Ginninderra Falls is up for sale for the first time in a generation. Photo: Ray White Real Estate.
The iconic Ginninderra Falls – sometimes called Canberra’s Kakadu – is up for sale for the first time in 40 years.
The 55-hectare privately-owned freehold land is in Wallaroo, NSW, but just a short drive from the ACT.
It includes waterfalls and walking trails and was listed for sale on the Ray White real estate site by landholders John and Anna Hyles.
“We’ve held it in our family for 40 years. We’re farmers, I’ve got one son who’s a farmer, a daughter who’s a doctor and a son who’s an engineer, tourism is just not in our bag,” Mr Hyles told Region.
“Since the Ginninderry development [in West Belconnen], there’s been a lot of pressure to open it up to the public, we thought we’d put it on the market so hopefully someone buys it, does it up professionally and opens it up so people can enjoy it.
“Ginninderra Falls is a very beautiful site, you’d have to go out and see it to appreciate just how beautiful it is. It’s a freak of nature, it was Canberra’s second biggest attraction when we had it open many years ago.”
The site has been closed to the general public since 2004 due to public liability issues, but Mr Hyles is hopeful that this sale could change that.
“It needs the walking trails to be fixed up properly. There’s some infrastructure that needs to go in there, they need a big area for a park ranger to look after the environment. Whoever opens it needs to do it properly,” he said.
“It’s our hope that it’ll be open to the public. But I can’t stop one person just coming along and making it into a fantastic [private] retreat. Someone could just build one house on it, that wouldn’t be the ideal result but that could happen.”
A lookout at Ginninderra Falls. Photo: Ray White Real Estate.
Mr Hyles said it was impossible to estimate the sale price range.
“It’s such a rare, beautiful place. I’ve never seen anything like it, anywhere. Who’d know [what it might sell for]?”
Ray White real estate agent George Southwell said there had been a lot of interest in the property since it was first advertised earlier this week.
“Things have kicked off well and we’ve got a lot of enquiries, including from overseas and from locals,” he said.
“One thing to note is that it is privately-owned NSW land, there’s perhaps been some misconception about that, but it’s been privately owned for many years … it’s a significant ecological site that’s offering some real opportunities for buyers.”
Ray White has advertised the site as a “very rare combination of residential, resort, retail, eco-tourism and environmental zoning … family disposal creates opportunity to control the destiny of an Australian icon, whether it be to enjoy on your own, develop or open to the public once again.”
Ginninderra Falls is offered for sale via expressions of interest before Thursday, 28 November 2024.
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