Albury farmland snapped up in $18m deal

A 777ha aggregation of farms north of Albury has been sold to a regional city council by Australian papermaker Visy. See what’s next for the farmland.

The 777ha Maryvale Aggregation, at Table Top, NSW, has been sold to the AlburyCity regional council.

A 777ha aggregation of mixed farmland in southern NSW has been snapped up by a regional city council, after an eight-figure deal was struck earlier this year.

The Maryvale Aggregation, located 15km north of Albury at Plantation Lane, Table Top, has been sold by Australian papermaker Visy to AlburyCity, in what the council describes as the most significant purchase in its history.

NSW property records show both the Maryvale Aggregation’s 109ha Lot 1 and 668ha Lot 2, east of the Hume Highway, have been sold to the AlburyCity for a total price of $18m, the equivalent of about $23,166 a hectare.

Visy listed the holding for sale late last year, after it was deemed surplus to its needs.

Visy, founded in 1948 by Leon Pratt, acquired the Maryvale Aggregation farmland in 2019 as part of an $85m deal with Norwegian company Norske Skog, for the Ettamogah paper mill site.

The Maryvale Aggregation was acquired by Visy in 2019 when it bought the Ettamogah paper mill site.

Visy has retained ownership of the paper mill infrastructure, which was not offered to the market, and the western portion of the land.

Lot 3, a smaller 75ha holding at Davey Rd, is understood to have been sold in a separate deal for an undisclosed sum, with settlement not yet completed.

The land purchase was funded by AlburyCity’s Wastewater (Sewer) Fund cash reserves and is set to become home to water and wastewater infrastructure for Albury.

“This acquisition paves the way for the construction of an additional wastewater treatment plant north of the city to cater for the expected growth of Thurgoona-Wirlinga, and as identified by the NSW Government’s Master Plan for our Regional Job Precinct and AlburyCity’s draft Water and Wastewater Master Plans,” AlburyCity chief executive Frank Zaknich said.

Irrigated cropping has been part of farming pursuits at the Maryvale Aggregation.

Prime lamb and cattle have also been carried across the Maryvale Aggregation.

In recent years the Maryvale Aggregation had been used as a mixed farming enterprise, including the production of prime lamb, cattle, irrigated cropping and forestry pursuits.

“This acquisition will enable the delivery of critical wastewater infrastructure and is significantly more cost-effective than other alternatives considered in the draft masterplans,” AlburyCity mayor Kevin Mack said.

“We understand the financial pressures on our community and have carefully planned this investment to balance affordability with long-term benefits.

“Without the infrastructure planned for this site, we simply cannot provide for the housing and services our growing city needs.”

Elders Real Estate agents Henry Mackinnon and Nick Myer handled the sale of the Maryvale Aggregation, but declined to comment on the transaction.