La Belle Station
| Company type | Pastoral lease |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cattle station |
| Founded | 1962 |
| Founder | Townsend family |
| Headquarters | Northern Territory , Australia |
Area served | Northern Territory, Australia |
| Products | Cattle |
La Belle Station, which is also referred to as Labelle Downs, operates as a pastoral lease functioning as a cattle station in Australia's Northern Territory.
Situated approximately west of Batchelor and south of Darwin, La Belle shares its eastern boundary with Litchfield National Park, adjoins Litchfield Station to the south, borders the Delissaville-Wagait-Larrakia Aboriginal Land Trust on the northern side, and faces the Timor Sea to the west.
The estate encompasses a variety of terrain types: about one-third is composed of red soil and sandy woodland, half of which has been cleared and partially transformed into humidicola pasture. The remaining area consists of fertile marine floodplains supporting native wetland grasses including hymenachne, rice grass, marine couch, cane grass, alongside introduced species. The land is segmented into 34 paddocks with an estimated carrying capacity for 14,000 head of cattle.
Originally part of the adjacent Stapleton Station, La Belle was founded by the Townsend family in 1962. By 2001, the Townsend partnership placed the property on the market, stocked with 10,500 Brahman cattle.
In 2008, during a period of land market growth, Peter Camm sold La Belle along with nearby Welltree Station for 72 million. These stations were acquired by R. M. Williams Agricultural Holdings and retained until 2013 when the company went into receivership. Following this, both properties were purchased by the Australian Agricultural Company for 27.1 million.