Erica Eccleston of Thornbrook Orchard says pick your own law change could be disastrous

But a proposed change to the law surrounding 'pick your own' fruit could see them lose out on thousands of dollars per day.

The government is seeking to create planning controls to regulate the agritourism sector.

The reforms would mean farms would be limited to 50 people per fruit picking session.

For functions and tours for more than 30 guests, farms would be limited to only 10 events per year.

Mrs Eccleston said if the changes went ahead, the orchard, at Nashdale in NSW's Central West, could be forced to close.

"We'd go bankrupt. We would have to shut," she said.

Thornbrook has been in Mrs Eccleston's family since the 1940s and they began offering pick your own services about 15 years ago.

"We moved away from picking fruit and sending it to the markets in Sydney because we weren't making any money," she said.

"We thought there had to be a better way of selling fruit that means we get to make money out of it.

"Pick your own brings a lot of money into the area as well. A lot of those people come from Sydney, so they stay the night and have lunch, dinner and visit other shops. It's thousands of dollars into the economy of Orange."

While pick your own cherries are the big selling point for Thornbrook, Mrs Eccleston's family also purchased Hillside Harvest in 2021.

That orchard can offer pick your own throughout the entire year.

"We're not going to start sending fruit to the Sydney markets and not getting paid for it. There's no point working and not making any money," she said.

Away from Orange, calls have been made to stall the introduction of the reforms to allow time for "real consultation."

Hawkesbury City mayor Patrick Conolly, in Sydney's north west, has asked the NSW Government for further consultation to ensure its agritourism industry isn't negatively impacted by the reforms.

"We want to protect our rural and agricultural character, but we can't do that if these reforms leave small agricultural lots that are no longer economically viable," the mayor said.

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"I have met with representatives from the industry and I have asked the NSW Government not to introduce the provisions. Instead, further consultation is needed.

"I ask the Department of Planning and Environment to pause, meet with us and get these reforms right."

A petition calling on the proposed laws to be scrapped has also gained 25,000 signatures since it was started in early June.

Mrs Eccleston said the proposed change has been hard to come to terms with.

"When someone's telling you that how you run a business isn't allowed anymore, it just feels unfair," she said.

"What if they came out one day and said the supermarkets could only have 50 people per day. It just seems ridiculous."

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