A community centre and 38 houses for the needy will be built in Albury by St Vincent de Paul Housing thanks to a big grant from late Supreme Court judge John Nagle.
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St Vincent de Paul NSW acting chief executive Dianne Lucas said the organisation would likely lodge a building application to Albury Council “in the next few months” for the development at 403 Olive Street, with construction to begin subject to approval.
The units would be allocated on a needs basis, with most going towards affordable housing for workers and some social housing for people aged over 55.
Mr Nagle’s daughter, Winsome Duffy, told The Border Mail her father’s bequest - the total value of which has remained confidential – was given to St Vincent de Paul because it “fitted with his social conscience and experience as a judge”.
“My father intended to continue the Nagle tradition, like his forefathers, of giving back to his much-loved birthplace,” she said.
“He wanted the less fortunate in the Albury community to be given help.”
Born in Albury in 1913 and educated at Xavier High School, Mr Nagle joined Sydney’s Bar Council in 1954, and counted future prime minister Gough Whitlam as a friend.
Rising to become a judge of the Supreme Court in 1960, he was made a royal commissioner into NSW prisons in 1977.
The following year Mr Nagle handed down a landmark report on deplorable prison conditions, calling for sweeping reforms of the system.
He returned to Albury on retirement in 1983 - at the time he was the longest-serving judge of the NSW Supreme Court.
Mr Nagle grew oats and ran sheep and cattle at his beloved property, Brae Springs, near Walla, until his death in 2009.
Heavily involved in the growth of the Albury Regional Art Gallery, Mr Nagle left it a considerable collection of art work which was to form the backbone of MAMA.
Mrs Duffy said her father strongly championed the importance of a good education, which was reflected in his push for a university presence in the Border in the 1980s.
Mr Nagle was close friends with Sacred Heart North Albury’s Father Kevin Flanagan, who reserved special praise for his late friend.
“John Nagle was a very genial person,” Father Flanagan said.
“He had a very close relationship to his community in Albury – that’s why this money was to be used here.
“He had a very good heart for people, the disadvantaged. He was a man very much of Albury in every sense of the word.”
