John Cornell’s Belongil Land

It is not often that a landowner is relieved when a property they own drops in value. A 15 Ha vacant land site in Belongil Beach owned by John Cornell and partner Delvene Delaney’s Hammock Investments has dropped in value by 90%. They took the NSW Valuer General to court to pay only $980 in land tax rather than $87,500.

The late John (Strop) Cornell and Film and TV partner Paul Hogan were early celebrity residents of Byron Shire, moving here in the mid-80s. Cornell was a significant investor in Byron Shire real estate and did well. He produced the Crocodile Dundee movie, which remains the highest-grossing film ever made in Australia. The Belongil Beach land was purchased in 1987 for $200,000. The significant reduction from over $8 million to $810,000 was because it was removed from the BSC’s Residential Strategy, making it unlikely to be a development site.