The conversion of farmland near the Murrumbidgee River in west Belconnen to three new suburbs is about to begin, with Riverview lodging a development application this week for the first 356 houses.
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The homes begin the first suburb, Strathnairn, which is beside the Strathnairn arts centre and behind Holt.
The suburb marks the beginning of development across 1000 hectares of ACT farmland bordering the Murrumbidgee River, stretching across the border to take in another 600 hectares of NSW land near the spectacular Ginninderra Falls. The land runs along 6 km of Murrumbidgee corridor to where the river meets Ginninderra Creek.
If it gets NSW planning approval, the Ginninderry development will ultimately have 11,500 homes, delivered at 300-400 a year over 30 to 40 years. It will house more than 30,000. It is also yet to win national environmental approval, with a decision expected in April.
The project is a 60:40 joint venture between the ACT's Land Development Agency and Riverview, which is owned by the Corkhill Bros family.
Corkhill has owned and farmed 332 hectares of the land on the NSW side of the border for many years, with another 265 hectares in smaller lots. In 2004, it bought the land on the ACT side of the border, and last year sold the ACT land to the ACT government for $4.5 million. The result is that control of the land is split 60:40, reflecting the split of costs and profits.
The project is headed by David Marshall, who is married to one of the Corkhill siblings.
Later this year, Riverview plans to lodge an application to build a road from the Strathnairn arts centre across the farmland to the riverside, with parking, for public access.
The site of the proposed new suburban development on farmland right of the Murrumbidgee River, stretching across the border to where it meets Ginninderra Creek. The marker shows the site of the first 356 homes behind the Strathnairn arts centre, for which an application has been lodged.
The project makes much of its green credentials, with solar panels compulsory on all the homes. Riverview also plans gas-free homes. It will run its own bus to link to Kippax, arguing that people's transport habits are set early so buses must be there from the start.
The development takes in the West Belconnen tip, where the Fluffy houses are being dumped. Mr Maxwell said the site would be capped in 2019 and used for parkland. Parkwood Eggs is also on the site, with its lease ending in 2035.
The first stage, for which an application has been lodged, is for 296 separate house blocks and 60 multi-unit homes. Just over one-third of the blocks are 250 square metres or smaller.
Riverview says 20 per cent, including 17 "Fonzie flats" built above garages in the backyards of separate homes, will meet affordability thresholds, and be sold to people on household incomes of less than $120,000.
Its prices don't match the government's affordability prices, but have been adjusted by about $26,000-$28,000 to take account of what Riverview says is the cost of solar panels, other energy saving measures, landscaping and finance costs.
That puts the cost of an 80 square metre affordable house at $322,420. A house of 81-105 square metres will cost $375,460. Above that size, the cost is $410,140.
The Ginninderry project has attracted considerable interest for its location next to the Murrumbidgee River in an area that has been protected from visitors by difficult access across private land. The Ginninderra Falls were closed to the public in 2004.
The application envisages removing 20 of the 90 trees on the first site, including 16 regulated trees.
