Springvale or Springvale Station is a

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to Pastoral farming, graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Austral ...

that operates as a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

in the East Kimberley region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The Springvale Aggregation was created when Springvale was purchased along with Alice Downs, Mabel Downs, and Texas Downs by a South African company in 2003. the four properties are owned by Harvest Road, an

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

owned by

Andrew Forrest John Andrew Henry Forrest (born 18 November 1961), nicknamed Twiggy, is an Australian businessman. He is best known as the former CEO (and current non-executive chairman) of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), and has other interests in the mining ...

. Springvale Station is situated about north of

Halls Creek Halls is a plural of the word hall. Halls may also refer to: People * Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician * Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress * Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player * ...

and south west of Warmun in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region. The cluster of stations known as Springvale Aggregation covers .

History

J. W. McAdam acquired Springvale in 1932 from E. Bridge and Sons. The family business Quilty and Sons acquired Springvale in 1948 from W. J. McAdam in 1948. The Quiltys already owned neighbouring

Bedford Downs Station Bedford Downs, or Bedford Downs Station, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Western Australia. It is situated about west of Warmun and north of Halls Creek in the Kimberley region. Both the station and nearby Mount Be ...

. In 2003 the property was sold as part of a A$15-million four-property deal to South African interests. The four adjoining stations of Springvale, Bedford Downs, Mabel Downs and Alice Downs comprised an area of and were stocked with approximately 32,000 head of cattle.

Today

In March 2022,

's agribusiness, Harvest Road, bought the station, along with Mabel Downs, Alice Downs and Texas Downs, together known as the Springvale Aggregation. Together they cover and are stocked with 35,000 head of cattle.

Traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of the land were keen to work with the new owners, hoping for some of the land to be developed as tourist destinations, which would create jobs for

Indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

in a region which has few opportunities. In addition, with Forrest's known interest in improving the lives of Indigenous peoples, it is hoped that his wealth could be used to improve educational outcomes for children in the Halls Creek area.

References

{{Stations of the Kimberley Western Australia Stations in the Kimberley (Western Australia)

History

Today

See also

References