Kurrajong Forest fetches $8.05m – that’s $1m an acre – in online auction

Bidding started this morning at $6.5m for the 8 acre (3.23 hectares) Kurrajong Forest and within minutes – it was bid up to $8.05m and sold.

We don’t yet know who the buyer is – it was number 15 on the auction list- but at $1m an acre they have to be looking at developing the forested area into the 35 homes allowed there, or possibly land-banking it for future opportunities.

As we wrote yesterday, Hawkesbury Council has consistently opposed development on the site but they were ultimately overruled by the Land and Environment Court, who sided with the then developer back in 2018.

The large forested plot has been sold several times since it came on the market back in 2015 when it was Crown Land.

The Kurrajong Forest site was originally part of the explorer William Lawson’s 500 acre grant. It was passed down through his family until his great grandson sold much of the land to the Lamrock family. They sold it onto Mr Malcolm, who in 1927 created ‘Malcolm’s Woodburn Estate’.

As part of the Woodburn Estate subdivision, Kurrajong Forest was bought by the then State Government for future use as a park or for ‘village purposes’ such as a hall.

Resident Tracey Hawkins who has been fighting large scale development of the land, says “this site is an important wildlife corridor in our small town. It is home to generations of wildlife, including a vast array of birds, bats, reptiles and insects such as Bower Birds, Crimson Finches, Blue Wrens, Plovers, Kookaburras, Water dragons, lizards and snakes. As long term residents we can confirm a sighting of a koala as well as many visits from the local wallaby.”

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