Council yet to land new airport grazing site lease

Airport May Two   TBW Newsgroup
NEW LEASE BEING READIED: Wattle Range Council is preparing to lease the farming and grazing land around the Millicent airport. Picture: J.L. "FRED" SMITH

Airport May Two TBW Newsgroup
NEW LEASE BEING READIED: Wattle Range Council is preparing to lease the farming and grazing land around the Millicent airport. Picture: J.L. “FRED” SMITH

THE next lease holder of a prime parcel of publicly-owned cropping and grazing land at Millicent has yet to be determined.

The 68 hectares (168 acres) is part of the Millicent airport and is owned by Wattle Range Council.

For the past 27 years, it has been leased by the fourth-generation local family partnership B.N. & J.M. Bell & Sons and the agreement expires at the end of next month.

The matter was the subject of a staff report at the March monthly council meeting and council decided to invite tenders, which had to be submitted by April 24.

“The tenders for the lease of council land at the Millicent airport are in early stages of consideration and we are not in a position to be making any public comment yet,” council said.

The successful tenderer will be required to comply with the terms outlined in a 20-page document, including the yearly application of fertiliser.

At the proper time of the season during each year of the term, the successful tenderer will be obliged to top dress the land with a minimum of eight kilograms of elemental phosphorus per hectare.