Booming Gungahlin leads way in trimmed land release program

Gungahlin will continue to be the boom area for new residential growth in the ACT this financial year, according to the Indicative Land Release Program announced with the recent Budget update.

The northern area dominates the ACT Government land release program for 2020-21, delivering 45 per cent of the total number of dwellings expected to be built on blocks coming on to the market, as well as two new suburban commercial centres and land for a new school.

The government released its Indicative Land Release Program in the recent Budget update, but only for 2020-21 instead of the usual four-year forecast due to the Budget delay until after the October election because of the pandemic.

The government has taken the pandemic’s impact on migration and population growth, and the subsequent dampening of demand into account and this year’s release is about 1000 dwellings down on 2019-20.

It shows 1368 dwellings are slated for Gungahlin out of a total of 3043 across the ACT, including the last release in Taylor, making up the single biggest number of dwellings at 588.

Other releases are in Casey (100), Moncreiff (90), Throsby (82) and the new suburb of Kenny (100).

In the Gungahlin Town Centre, 408 dwellings are expected, including a 23,000 square metre release for mixed-use development.

In Moncreiff, more than 9000 square metres is listed for mixed-use development, as well as more than 15,000 square metres for commercial use. The Taylor release also includes more than 5100 square metres of commercial land.

Land set aside for community use in Gungahlin amounts to nearly 79,000 square metres, comprising 6837 square metres in Throsby and 72,000 square meters in Kenny for a new school.

In the other big greenfield area, the Molonglo Valley, 828 dwellings are envisaged, including 510 in the new suburb of Whitlam.

The growing suburbs of Wright and Coombs can expect 123 and 195 dwellings respectively as well as more than 10,000 square metres and 12,000 square metres for mixed-used development.

Coombs has nearly 3000 square metres listed for commercial use, while Wright, where residents are looking forward to a new community centre, has about 5000 square metres set aside for community use.

A further 300 dwellings are set to be released in the new greenfield suburb of Strathnairn in West Belconnen, which is offering a diversity of land and housing types.

Strathnairn is the first suburb to be developed as part of the Ginninderry development, a joint venture between the ACT Government and Riverview.

Ginninderry is a six-star Green Star Community that will deliver a total of 11,500 new homes over the next 30 years as a cross-border development on land in the ACT and NSW.

In the burgeoning Belconnen Town Centre, land for a further 500 dwellings will come on stream, with 20,000 square metres for mixed-use development.

Other releases include 30 dwellings on 8000 square metres of community land in Calwell in the south and 17 in Oaks Estate on 4380 square metres slated for mixed-use development.

The Budget update said the target for public, community and affordable housing was set at 302, made up of 53 new public housing dwellings, 10 new community housing dwellings and 239 individual dwellings dedicated for affordable home purchase to eligible low-income households.

This is equal to 16.2 per cent of eligible residential sites planned for release in 2020-21, although Whitlam, Taylor and Throsby has been excluded from the target calculation as these suburbs already have an allocation of such dwellings from previous years. The government’s Affordable Housing Strategy has set an overall target of 15 per cent.

An 18,000 square metre industrial site due for release is the last land available in the Hume industrial estate.

Original Article published by Ian Bushnell on The RiotACT.