Hundreds of new residents could soon call Branxton home with a Sydney-based developer ready to launch a $30 million rural residential land release north of the tiny town.
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It is the first of at least three developments planned around Branxton by the Belford Land Corporation, which has been buying up prime real estate in the region since 2005 in a bid to capitalise on the construction of the Hunter Expressway.
Radford Park will be located on Elderslie Road, about 1.5 kilometres north of Branxton, with stage one to encompass 169 lots with an average size of one acre (4046sq m).
The development has already been rezoned by Cessnock City Council, with Belford Land Corporation director Anthony Medich expecting the land release to be launched next month. It will be followed in 2014 by the development of Murray’s Rise, a 120-lot release on Standen Road with an average size of two acres
(8093sq m), named after Mr Medich’s grandfather, well known Hunter rally car driver Jack Murray.
The company is still in discussions with the council about a third development to the west of Branxton on Hermitage Road, which would see an area of more than 760 acres (308 hectares) developed into large lifestyle lots with an average size of 6ha.
“We started buying land up there [Branxton] six or seven years ago once we saw how strong the local economy was with mining, combined with the lifestyle aspects and the fact the Hunter Expressway was coming through,” he said.
“It is a prime central location in the Hunter Valley and there is going to be a lot of growth in the Hunter Valley, it’s got all the right fundamentals.
“We’ve already invested a lot of money into the area and we’re still investing more into developing it.
“This [Radford Park] will cost us between $25 and $30 million ? but we’ve got a lot of confidence in Branxton.”
With strong interest already being registered for Radford Park, Mr Medich said potential buyers were crying out for this style of land release.
“There was a huge undersupply of blocks, particularly rural residential ? there hasn’t been a masterplanned rural residential subdivision in and around Branxton for a decade,” Mr Medich said.
“We’ve been very well received, the council has been very supportive and the community has welcomed it.”
This is in contrast to the reception given by some community members to the much larger $1.5 billion Huntlee development south of Branxton, which has been the subject of a number of protests in and out of court.
The first 1400 lots and 60 hectares of town centre for Huntlee were placed on public exhibition in October last year, but have not yet received approval from the State Government.
Huntlee is expected to incorporate 7500 homes by 2035, with a population of 20,000 people.
