900 homes, $360 million: massive seniors housing development on exhibition

A proposal to add almost 1000 new dwellings to a seniors housing village has gone on public exhibition, with the development set to become one of the largest housing projects of its kind in the Hunter.

The development application proposes to add 913 new homes to the Berry Park seniors village outside Maitland at an estimated cost of $360 million.

It would add independent living units, a new community centre, a wellness centre, a nine-hole golf course for residents and expanded internal roads across the 96.5-hectare site on McFarlanes Road, Berry Park.

The proposal would roughly quadruple the number of homes at the site.

Berry Park Village, on the western side of the property, has 159 existing dwellings.

The neighbouring Gatehouse village to the east has 94.

The area has been included in the Maitland Housing Strategy 2041 as a future seniors living investigation area.

If the plan is approved, seven four-storey buildings would be built along part of McFarlanes Road.

Between them they would house 217 of the 913 new dwellings and stand up to 12.75 metres tall.

The plan concedes the taller buildings would have a "moderate" visual impact for about 300 metres along the road, reducing views of the surrounding hills for passing motorists.

It notes landscaping will filter views of the buildings if the proposal wins approval.

The tallest structures are set back 20 metres from the road.

Other new dwellings, including single villas, would be smaller in scale.

Beyond the unit blocks, the plan details 96 single villa dwellings, 298 dual villas, and 302 up/down villas.

The plan states "at least 2 per cent", or 19 of the new homes, would be set aside as affordable housing.

Consultation with residents during drop-in sessions raised concerns including demand for on-site medical and allied health services, requests for a lap pool and additional men's shed, better street signage, more visitor parking, and calls to retain existing rural views and breezes.

The environmental impact statement said these issues have informed refinements to the masterplan.

A traffic and transport impact assessment concludes the surrounding road network has capacity for the extra traffic, but recommends cutting the speed limit on the McFarlanes Road frontage from 80km/h to 60km/h.

It also suggests expanding the villages' on-demand minibus service.

The developer's consultants say the project would generate about 200 full-time equivalent jobs during construction and 40 to 50 ongoing jobs once operating.

The proposal also includes a concurrent rezoning of the land, which is largely zoned for primary production, to permit seniors housing.

The application is being assessed as a state significant development, after the NSW Housing Delivery Authority recommended the project take the accelerated pathway in mid-2025.

The application will be assessed by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.

The exhibition period opened on September 9 and submissions close on October 7.

Submissions must be lodged online through the NSW Planning Portal.