Will Black Magic save Majura Valley?

A 14-year-old Australian stockhorse, Black Magic belongs to John Scott. Soon 30,000 cars and trucks a day will be thundering down the Majura parkway, 300 metres from stallion and rider's home, Molonglo Park.

Mr Scott and his mother, Sue, live on the 182 hectare property where a 99-year lease expired in 2007. The new highway sliced 22 hectares off the property. Consequently his 600-head sheep flock has reduced to about 200 plus lambs.

Mr Scott and his neighbours want a master plan to guide development throughout the valley.

"We can't even put in crops," he said. "We've always grown lucerne and even before they started building the road they kept changing the design, so we couldn't put a crop in then either."

Neighbour Paul Keir breeds and shows stock horses and heavy horses like Clydesdales on "Springfield", his 44 hectare property on which he restored from the weatherboard Majura Post office, an 1870s building.

"The land here is exceptional," Mr Keir said. "My farm would be equal to about 600 acres at Gunning, no moisture runs-off, but you would need the whole valley to support a family."

"It's a lot easier for other landholders, but John and I are on land that is national land. The federal government has zoned land around the airport that follows the runway and beyond and to lease that land, you have to have an agreement with the federal and local government. The federal and ACT governments are working on that now."

Mr Scott said all he could do was wait. "You can't work the farm, we are going from month to month, not even year to year."

"If we did get our marching orders," Mr Keir says, "we would be paid out for the capital improvements only and a handshake.

"It is very distressing. Nervousness went around us all around the management of the road, we didn't know whether we'd be killed off. This is why we are so interested in a master plan, we are not against planning or development and are interested in working with the government.

"It doesn't matter from which direction you drive into Canberra, you come through these rural areas. I have never been able to work out why [governments] didn't plant around the Hume industrial zone and Mugga tip [in Canberra's south]. They've been there for 30 years, imagine what those trees would look like now?

"We are in this fantastic valley. Just imagine driving down into the valley from an elevated road, seeing free-range chooks, beautiful green lucerne, all the new lambs, sheep, and [Majura neighbour] Craig Hall's beautiful cattle."

The Scott family has been in the valley for 35 years and previously had land at Murrumbateman. Mr Keir's mother's family, the Bruces, have been there for about 65 years and previously ran a dairy.

"It is still a beautiful drive along Dairy Flat Road, it would be even more beautiful to see Friesian cows," Mr Keir said.

They believe the broadacre industrial zone can accommodate industrial uses and agricultural tourism.