AlburyCity buys Lavington Panthers Oval

AlburyCity will purchase the Lavington Panthers Oval to ensure it remains in the city's hands and is not used for residential development.

AlburyCity Mayor Patricia Gould says the purchase will be followed by a program of improvements to lighting, the grandstand and spectator areas, so Albury can bid for AFL and NRL fixtures and other major sporting events, such as Sheffield Shield cricket.

"This is a great thing for Albury," Cr Gould says.

"We have ensured that a local sporting icon is not lost to the community. If a private developer had purchased the property, the facilities could have been demolished and the land used for something else," she says.

"Lavington Panthers Oval is the only major sporting facility in Albury with a crowd capacity of more than 10,000 people. I am very pleased that it will remain the region's pre-eminent sporting facility."

The $1.2 million purchase from Panthers Entertainment Group will be made over four years from within Council's normal budget allocations.

Glenn Matthews, Group Board CEO for the Panthers Entertainment Group, says he is pleased that the oval is now a community asset.

Council's decision to purchase the oval was made at an Extraordinary Meeting earlier this evening.

Cr Gould will announce the purchase at a dinner tonight celebrating Lavington's anniversary.