An Australian-based agricultural asset management company has been confirmed as the new owner of rich farming land in northern New South Wales that was once slated for a coal mine.
Gunn Agri Partners has settled the purchase of about 6,000 hectares of land on the Liverpool Plains after Chinese energy giant Shenhua backed out of its controversial Watermark Coal Mine plan last year.
The purchase accounts for about a quarter of the land earmarked for the mine.
The rest has been sold to private landholders or returned to the NSW government for Indigenous cultural preservation, revegetation and koala management.
The property will be operated by Faulkner Farming and regional manager Matthew Tonkin said it was expected to have a variety of uses.
"There is some existing cropping on fertile black and red soils. There is significant transformation potential of areas previously under-utilised as unimproved pasture," he said.
Plans to regenerate the country
Bradley Wheaton of Gunn Agri Partners said they planned to regenerate the country and work closely with other local farmers.
"Making sure we've got ground cover for as much of the year as possible … we also look to integrate grazing opportunities into our cropping rotations," he said.
Mr Wheaton said they also hoped to employ local people and work with environmental groups to protect koala corridors surrounding the property.
CBRE agribusiness managing director David Goodfellow, who managed the sale, said Gunn Agri Partners understood the importance of the land to the community.
"The Gunn Agri model is really about buying land that is suitable for development into better forms of agriculture, but also with great respect for the natural environment," he said.
"They have about $450 million worth of farming land under management in Australia already."
Locals satisfied
Susan Lyle was one of several farmers in the region who campaigned against Shenhua's plans for many years.
She said she was comfortable with a corporate entity taking ownership.
"They will come forward and bring what was very good ag land back to where it should be," she said.
Ms Lyle said the new owners would have a lot of work ahead to re-establish the property as productive farming land.
"Unfortunately during the Shenhua times, that countryside deteriorated into nothing but a mess," she said.
Shenhua pulled out of its planned Watermark mine last year after a negotiation with the NSW government.
It marked the end of 13 years of exploration activity on the Liverpool Plains.
