‘Largest ever’: 9000 home plan lodged for Sydney’s south-west

Australia’s largest ever stand-alone application for 9000 homes, lodged by heavyweight developers Walker Corporation, will help ease Sydney’s housing crisis.

Thousands of new homes could be built in one swoop on Sydney’s southwestern fringe, with Australia’s largest ever stand-alone application for 9000 homes lodged as industry voices call for similar projects to be fast-tracked to address the state’s housing crisis.

Heavyweight developers Walker Corporation have submitted plans for the mass project at Appin with their blueprint including thousands of homes and $2 billion in infrastructure including crucial water and sewage links, a new Macarthur business park, shops, and sports ovals.

The development application, believed to be the largest single housing application in the country, was lodged with Wollondilly Shire Council with the company aiming to have it assessed and signed off on by June 2025.

The project area includes five million square metres of conservation land, with plans to plant tens of thousands of new trees around the community to help protect a local koala population.

If approved, work will immediately start on 600 homes, with the scheme to be opened up for public feedback in November.

Walker Managing Director and CEO David Gallant said the company had already put more than $10 million into specialist reports including bushfire management, transport links and heritage protection.

Artist renders of Walker’s Appin bushland play area, which will go alongside the development of about 9000 homes in Sydney’s southwest. Picture: Supplied

“The wider Macarthur region is excited about our vision to create a high-quality community for families to grow and explore in one of the most unique natural settings in Australia with shops, cafes, schools, parks and public transport, all within walking distance to homes,” he said.

Campbelltown MP Greg Warren said the proposal would provide more options for families looking to get on the housing ladder.

“This Walker proposal will provide people with the ability to work, live and play in our wonderful Macarthur community,” he said.

Peak bodies said it was key a proposal of that size – which would far exceed Wollondilly Council’s five-year housing target of 5,500 homes – was progressed quickly.

“In the middle of the worst housing crisis we’ve known, it’s important we find a fast track for housing at scale … It isn’t just cows and chickens anymore. If we’re going to build our way out of this crisis, it needs to start now,” Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger said.

“It includes up to 10,000 jobs in a business park, and that’s exactly what southwest Sydney needs. We don’t want to lose businesses to Queensland or Victoria.”

Artist renders of the Walker Appin Wellness Centre, part of their massive proposal for Appin. Picture: Supplied

Urban Development Institute Australia (UDIA) NSW CEO Stuart Ayres said “in the midst of a housing supply crisis the NSW Government needs to be pulling out all the stops to arrest the decline”.

Property Council NSW executive director Katie Stevenson said Walker had “done the hard yards” in planning infrastructure along with homes.

“A housing crisis needs a crisis response and Walker’s proposed development will punch a hole with 9,000 new homes,” she said.

Canberra couple Monique and Hayden Robinson said they hoped the influx of homes would enable them to move closer to their families in Sydney.

Monique (a primary school teacher) and Hayden Robinson (a nurse) with their kids Henry and Rosie, are keen to return to Sydney from Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman

“All of our family are in Sydney and lots of our friends – we just moved down here for more job opportunities and to get into the housing market five years ago,” Monique, a primary school teacher, said.

The couple have two children under three and said moving from their Canberra townhouse to a home on Sydney’s fringe would allow them to have a traditional house as well as being closer to family support.

“Having a front yard, backyard, and support from our family (would be great) – especially around childcare, because we don’t have any support here, so that’s thousands of dollars a year,” she said.