It might be some time until a small town outside of Wagga gets a subdivision, but one property expert said it could be what keeps the town surviving.
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A land re-zoning application to pave the way for potentially a future subdivision in Collingullie is passing through Wagga City Council.
Just last week, residents were fighting to keep the public school from being sold off as it a central place within the tight-knit community.
"If we don't have a school here, we've only got a shop, a pub and the village," Collingullie resident Sara Jones said.
"Who would want to move out here and build or rent homes if they have to send their kids into town for school?"
Another resident Vicky Lisle said the approval of land, beside the school, could bring more people into the town and drive demand for the school.
Independent based property valuer Chris Egan said having prospective residents would be a positive way of keeping the population up.
"There are some people who want that unique rural experience, so there's definitely a market there and in a market like Wagga there needs to be subdivided blocks in each price bracket," Mr Egan said.
"However, these things don't move through council quickly and it takes many months to subdivide and build roads.
"The take up rates in these smaller villages are a lot more slower than with subdivisions in the city of Wagga but residents who stay there can gain that sense of community, with new young families supporting the local community and sport."
A council spokesperson said they are in receipt of several planning proposals across the Local Government Area, either to rezone land or to change the provisions of the Wagga Local Environmental Plan 2010 to pave the way for future subdivisions to occur.
"The planning proposal for Collingullie is currently not available for public view," the spokesperson said.
Mr Egan said in order to attract more people to the area, the blocks would need to be more affordable than in Wagga.
"Blocks have to be pegged at a price tag that is attractive and pays less than in the city," he said.
"I'd look at whether there are any vacant blocks and if they haven't been taken up, find out why; is it because of the price.
"But, this could be the solution to the town of Collingullie."
Mr Egan said the growth of Wagga has seen towns like Forest Hill and Uranquinty producing blocks of land at similar prices to the city.
"Uranquinty is getting closer to Wagga because it's growing in the south," he said.
