More than 3300 hectares (8500 acres) of former bluegum plantation land in western Victoria are up for sale by forests investment manager New Forests.
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Most of the 21 properties up for sale still have bluegums on them and will be harvested in about 18 months time.
The properties are in an area that extends from the Heytesbury district near Simpson to Camperdown, north of Casterton and Coleraine and through to the SA border.
They range in size from 30 hectares to more than 300 hectares.
Expressions of interest for the properties close on Wednesday, October 24.
Charles Stewart Hamilton real estate agent Andrew Duffy said most of the bluegum plantations on the properties were to be harvested after 15 years’ growth.
New Forests bought many bluegum plantations from Great Southern Plantations after that company collapsed in 2009. Great Southern had raised more than $1.8 billion from 47,000 investors to run 43 managed investment schemes.
Mr Duffy said he had sold former timber plantation land for several vendors and found there was a strong demand for converting it back to farmland.
“The bulk of purchasers tend to be people who revert the land back to grassland,” he said.
“The land converts well back to grass,” Mr Duffy said.
He had received more than 130 enquiries about the 21 properties, he said.
Mr Duffy said New Forests was one of the largest landholders in Victoria and still had other timber plantations in the state and elsewhere in Australia.
New Forests in an international fund manager with investments in sustainable real assets in forestry, land management and conservation.