‘It was all farmland’: Stubborn homeowners praised for holding firm as developers offer $60 million

A family who watched as an entire suburb was crammed in around them have been praised for holding firm even as offers rise to $60 million.

A stubborn Sydney family who watched as an entire suburb was crammed in around their massive property have been praised for holding firm even as developers offer as much as $60 million.

The Zammit family from Quakers Hill in Sydney’s northwest gained worldwide attention in recent years as a striking example of homeowners refusing to budge amid encroaching development.

They rebuffed offers to sell their 20,000 square metre property, which features a single two-storey house and shed and an enormous, perfectly manicured lawn, to developers who had purchased all of the surrounding land for a development called The Ponds.

All around the property up to its fence-line now are identical, tightly packed homes, built by Sydney-based Bathla Group, with small setbacks and street verges, tiny backyards and black roofs and driveways.

The Zammits have held firm. Picture: Brook Mitchell/AFP

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“I actually went to school around there when it was all farmland,” said Matt Van Biljon, 19, a TikToker and branded content creator who lives in the area.

“(The change was) insanely fast. When I first joined I just remember the smell of the chicken farms and the cows or whatever it was. I left that school and didn’t go around that area as much — I would occasionally drive past and every time I just couldn’t believe (the changes), it was crazy.”

A video shared by Mr Van Biljon last week about the Zammit property quickly went viral, racking up more than 4.3 million views.

“Good on them for not selling. Damn straight I would not sell either,” one viewer wrote.

“I live near that house, I drive past it every time I go to the shops … when I was younger that road just used to be dirt,” another said.

“60 mil, tell ‘em they’re dreaming,” a third wrote.

Mr Van Biljon said “I know a lot of people feel the same as me” that it was “sad” to see the loss of farmland.

“I think a lot of the original population don’t even live there anymore,” he said.

“But I think honestly with the way Sydney is growing it was bound to happen. I just don’t like the fact they’ve put in houses that all look the same with black roofs, door to door. It’s going to be 50-degree summers out here. I wish they could’ve maybe planned it a bit better.”

The Ponds development was built around them. Picture: Brook Mitchell/AFP

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The Zammits had reportedly received offers of up to $50 million, but reports emerged in recent months that developers had continued to reach out with bids close to $60 million as property prices rise.

House prices in Quakers Hill have risen 8.5 per cent over the past 12 months, according to PropTrack. The median house price in the area has risen more than two thirds over the past decade, from around $700,000 to more than $1.1 million.

The Zammits, who are notoriously private, had apparently considered selling back in 2015 when it briefly appeared on the market with a price guide of just $858,000 to $945,000, property records show.

One of the property’s owners, Diane Zammit, told The Daily Mail in 2022 the neighbourhood used to be “farmland dotted with little red brick homes and cottages”.

“Every home was unique and there was so much space — but not any more,” she said. “It’s just not the same.”

Several local real estate agents told news.com.au attempts to contact the Zammits had been unsuccessful, with one saying the owners were like “ghosts”.

Another said he expected Bathla Group would be the only realistic bidder so it could complete its development and connect the roads.

It’s estimated that up to 50 houses could fit on the block if built in a similar style.

Bathla Group did not respond to a request for comment.

The area used to be farmland a few years ago. Picture: TikTok

Earlier this year, neighbours told news.com.au they were more than happy with the Bathla Group homes, which are mostly four-bedroom, three-bathroom properties boasting about 280 square metres of internal living space on 300 square-metre blocks.

Showing off his six-metre by nine-metre backyard, data analyst Manohar Muralidhara said he had “no complaints” about the size of the property.

“If you go to old developed areas like Quakers Hill you will find bigger plots, but that’s understandable where things are heading — more people, less land,” Mr Muralidhara said.

“I do have a decent backyard, a sizeable backyard. I don’t see a problem with it to be honest.”

One mum on the street said that people criticising the housing “don’t realise that most of the people around here are Indian”.

“Back there in India we have lived like that, houses are like that,” she said.

“So basically in India the housing is like we share the same wall. Sometimes the bricks are together, sometimes one brick (wall) is used. So for us it’s common, but in Australia it’s different. (In India) there is more population and land is less, so there is not that culture (of having backyards). Most people they have (homes) like this.”

Mr Van Biljon said he would “love to see them hold on for as long as they can but in my opinion I think it’s inevitable”.

“It’s already at $60 million, if it just keeps going up … we’ll see what happens,” he said. “Personally I hope they hold out.”

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