Wagga home buyers get a reprieve as major housing estate approved for city's north

A development application for the 308-lot residential subdivision, which completes the missing link between Estella and Gobbagombalin, was first lodged with Wagga City Council in June and approved last week.

The subdivision is planned for 46 hectares of vacant land on the eastern side of Pine Gully Road, between Old Narrandera Road and Estella Road, and sits between existing homes in both suburbs.

The $19 million project comprises stages 14 to 20 of the long-running Estella Estate development and borders the under-construction Estella shopping centre, which will include a Foodworks supermarket and is expected to open this year.

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Alatalo Bros Wagga manager Paul Eady said the approval was exciting because "we all know Wagga is in desperate need for new lots".

"There's a very limited number on the market right now and any lots we can bring to the market will hopefully help ease the demand," he said.

Mr Eady said a lack of available land was driving up prices.

"We've seen that over the last couple of years, particularly coming out of COVID," he said. "So if we can bring in a volume of land like this to the market, it should help ease that pressure."

The residential lots will be completed in eight stages and Mr Eady said the development should provide six to eight years' of land supply.

However, while the first stage will see a total of 83 properties released to the market, they're not expected to go up for sale until early next year.

"The DA is only part of the process," Mr Eady said.

"The next stage is to work through the DA conditions. Once we've satisfied those, we can apply for a construction certificate.

"I'm hoping we will break ground in the second half of this year and the lots will probably come on [the market] early 2024."

According to the plans, construction on the subdivision would start at the northern end of the site and when complete, will connect four existing roads on the eastern Estella boundary.

A further two roads are set to connect to Pine Gully Road on the western edge, including Avocet Drive.

Mr Eady said Avocet Drive was likely to be completed through to Pine Gully Road later this year before opening to the public in 2024.

The nearby Boorooma shopping complex is also now just weeks away from opening and Mr Eady said the completion of Avocet will be a boon for Gobbagombalin residents.

"It will save them time and it will also open up the new shopping centres to the Gobba side of the area," he said.

"At the moment Gobba residents have to drive a bit around to get to the shopping centres, but that road will link them to both."

The development will also bring more parks to the area, including one behind the Estella shops and a linear park travelling through the estate.

Wagga City Council has plans to upgrade Pine Gully and Old Narrandera roads, with interim pothole repair works completed this week.

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