800 new homes for Aldinga in net zero-carbon housing development, with over 55s lifestyle village, cafe, pool

More than 800 homes will be built at Aldinga under a net-zero plan that’s “blazing a new path” for mainstream housing estates.

The Aldinga housing plan as seen from the air.

More than 800 new homes will be built in a landmark, $400m, net zero-carbon community in Adelaide’s south that includes a lifestyle village, residents’ club and space for an expanded Seaford rail line.

Construction is set to start next year after Villawood Properties was announced as developer for the 45ha site beside the new Aldinga College on Main South Rd.

A mix of townhouses, detached home and semi-detached homes will be built, with at least 25 per cent affordable.

About 200 homes will be part of an over-55s lifestyle village on the western side of the land, toward the beach.

The project will include a central community club including a pool, gym and cafe called Club Aldinga.

An artist impression of Club Aldinga, the residents' club that's part of the 800-home Aldinga housing development.

An artist impression of proposed housing in a planned 800-home estate at Aldinga.

Villawood Properties Chief Executive Alan Miller said the “seriously ground-breaking” project was “blazing a new path for mainstream sustainable housing and premium affordability for the entire country”.

“We haven’t seen all the elements of cost, design, sustainability, social connection and quality come together like this before in any mainstream housing project in Australia,” he said.

“Aldinga is rewriting how new communities are designed, how lifestyle and climate considerations are factored into them and how home buyers can far more easily access the property market.”

Extensive open space, parks, reserves and chain-of-ponds corridors will be included, along with at least 25 per cent tree canopy.

The lifestyle village will consist of two- and three-bedroom homes, surrounded by planned recreational offerings.

A clubhouse is planned with pool, spa, sauna, gym, bar, community area and cinema.

The energy efficient estate includes light-coloured roofing, gas-free solar, heat pumps, batteries and a microgrid, specially orientated lots, as well as mandated sustainable building materials.

With 16 per cent open space, the all-electric development would create a “sustainable community”, Planning Minister Nick Champion said.

An artist impression of how the 800-home Aldinga development would look, from the air.

Master plan for the 800-home Aldinga housing and over-55s lifestyle village centre, cafe and residents' club.

The lifestyle village will be split from the rest of the development by 60m-wide rail corridor to provide long-term options for a Seaford rail line extension to Aldinga.

Villawood will build a north-south shared use path along the eastern edge of the rail corridor.

The future rail corridor will be landscaped as additional open space until the rail line is extended.

Onkaparinga Council’s acting CEO Renee Mitchell said they had been advocating heavily for more sustainable development.

“The fact these measures were included in the plan proves that high-quality sustainable development can be embedded as the minimum acceptable standard, rather than merely a nice-to-have,” she said. “This is a significant achievement for both the council and the community.”

The 45-hectare site is bordered by Quinliven Rd to the north, Main South Rd to the east, Aldinga Beach Rd to the south and How Rd to the west and is adjacent the new birth-to- year 12 Aldinga Payinthi College.

The site of the Aldinga land where the 800-home housing development would go, along side Quinliven Road and Main South Road.

Villawood will be supplied with water and sewer infrastructure and will pay the $10,000 per-allotment greenfield augmentation charge outlined in the Housing Roadmap.

Local MP Leon Bignell said the community was behind the plan.

“(The community was) adamant that it had to be done in a sustainable way that everyone can be proud of, rather than one where shortcuts are taken, and design and environmental factors aren’t given the highest priority,” Mr Bignell said.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said it would create an entirely new, vibrant community in a booming area of Adelaide.

“This government is taking action to address the housing crisis and this is the type of master-planned development that will help us increase the supply of housing for South Australians,” he said.

The lifestyle village model – which usually involves people buying an off-the-plan home and renting the land – is becoming increasingly popular across SA, with villages being built or planned at Victor Harbor, Goolwa, Encounter Bay, Murray Bridge and Mount Barker, often with other housing estates.

Public engagement on Villawood’s draft masterplan will occur later this year.