A pocket on the southwest fringe of Sydney is being eyed off for Australia’s biggest housing blitz.
Thousands of families could soon call Appin home, with the 200-year-old town in the Macarthur region set for a major burst of infrastructure and a surge in population.
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Rural will give way to residential under what developer Walker Corporation said is “Australia’s largest ever standalone housing development application”, with 9000 new homes planned for the area.
7NEWS was on Thursday given a walkthrough of the site that could one day become a neighbourhood centre, complete with supermarkets, retail stores and cafes.
The development plan includes schools, community facilities, parks, nearly five million square metres of conservation land and a fast NBN connection.
If given the green light, stage one would begin with 600 homes.
The long-term plan is for 40,000 people to eventually call Appin home, while a $1.9 billion business park would accommodate 10,000 jobs in the area.
Appin’s current population is about 3200 people, meaning it could skyrocket by more than 1000 per cent if the dream is realised.
“You think of the scale of places like Macquarie Park or Norwest, and what that has done to those regions – people that can work locally and live locally,” Walker chief executive David Gallant said.
With demands on infrastructure, Walker has pledged new roads and a wastewater treatment plant, something the local council has insisted on.
“We need to see that as part of a binding structure plan that is directly linked to the delivery of houses,” Wollondilly Shire Mayor Matt Gould said.
Walker says it has already spent $10 million on reports and technical studies to ensure that development applications “accommodate all the critical infrastructure required alongside housing”.
The public is expected to get a say on the plans in November and Gallant is hopeful the application will be assessed and approved by June 2025. The first homes could be built in early 2026.
“The wider Macarthur region is excited about our vision to create a high-quality community for families to grow and explore in one of the most unique natural settings in Australia with shops, cafes, schools, parks and public transport, all within walking distance to homes,” Gallant said.
Research shows a big shortfall in the state’s new housing targets, with planning hold-ups being blamed.
Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW chief executive Stuart Ayres said the state is tracking about 150,000 homes behind where it wants to be.
“That’s an unacceptable number and it is a call to action for the government to do more,” Ayres said.
