Tamworth's Stratheden housing development plans in final stages, public exhibition expected in February

In a bid to handle a growing population and demand for housing, Tamworth Regional Council is one step closer to converting Stratheden, a horse breeding facility north of Tamworth, into a booming residential housing estate.

The 105-hectare site on the corner of Manilla Road and Browns Lane, will be the canvas for 895 dwellings, roads, parks and playgrounds, with varying lot sizes available for purchase.

Council acting manager of integrated planning Andrew Spicer, said the NSW Department of Planning has given the green-light for the development and provided council with a list of recommendations in a 'gateway determination'.

The determination required council to update the estate plans in accordance with contamination, Aboriginal archaelogy, ecology and traffic impacts.

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"You've got to have all that stuff squared away," Mr Spicer said.

"When you do go to exhibition the public deserve to see all that stuff."

A number of studies are still being carried out which have been paid for by the proponent, the current occupier of the Stratheden land.

The plans are expected to go on public exhibition in February.

The development will go hand in hand with council's Hills Plain and Arcadia estates to cope with the growing demand for accommodation, Mr Spicer said.

"We don't want a situation where people come along and say there's only one type of housing available, or only one location," he said.

"The process is to have hopefully residential zone land stock, so when people come to Tamworth in the coming decades they will have real choice."

The Stratheden Estate has been on council's radar for more than a decade and is considered a "major outcome" of the city's Blueprint 100.

Mr Spicer said the estate would help support employment in Tamworth and create a "positive cycle" by ensuring people moving to the region have options and choice when it comes to housing.

If the plans progress past public exhibition, a development application process will then be carried out, which Mr Spicer said would take a "long time" due to the complexity and size of the development.

"It will take some years before we start seeing a lot of houses out there that's for sure."

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