Final dividend worth $6m

- Albury-Wodonga Corporation wraps up early

ANOTHER $6 million dividend has been paid by the Albury Wodonga Corporation to the federal government.

This was revealed in its 2013-14 annual report, recently tabled in Parliament.

It is up by $2 million on what it handed over to the Commonwealth last year and takes the total return since 1989 to $325 million.

The report said this year’s dividend — the corporation’s last, with the federal Department of Finance taking over from next year — was in line with forecasts in the corporation’s annual operation plan.

On the land front, the corporation’s holdings dropped by 187 hectares during 2013-14 to 1086 hectares at June 30.

That has since been reduced to 986 hectares.

The financial year reduction in the land bank was made up of 184 hectares of sales to the private sector and the transfer of three hectares of environmental land to the NSW government.

Sales in 2013-14 included 78 hectares of land zoned residential in Glenroy, Lavington and Wodonga, 78 hectares of rural and other land at Baranduda, Leneva and Wodonga and 28 hectares of industrial land at Ettamogah and West Wodonga.

Twenty-six residential lots, split between NSW and Victoria, were sold.

The NSW sales were in the Hume Gardens Estate joint venture with Albury Council, while the Victorian lots were in the Country Club, Federation Park and Yarralumla Rise estates.

The annual report said the number of developed residential lot sales far exceeded the corporation’s forecasts.

These had been based on previous years’ sales — eight were sold in 2012-13 — that had been steadily declining since the corporation stopped developing land.

As of June 30, the corporation held 40 developed residential lots and three developed industrial lots in its own right.

It also had another 16 developed residential lots and 31 developed industrial lots in joint venture agreements with the Albury and Wodonga councils.

A further 10 developed residential lots had been sold since July 1.