Planner Martin Ruggeri uses a glass of beer to explain water basin retention in a proposed Hanwood park wetlands alongside 440 new houses as developer Luke Scobie looks on. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Griffith housing prices are nearly double what they could be due to supply shortages and red tape preventing growth, a community meeting in Hanwood was told on Thursday (19 February).
Luke Scobie of Sydney-based Cite Group put forward a proposal in 2023 to rezone two farming blocks north of Leonard Road (next to Old Willbriggie Road) and an adjoining block on the corner of Kidman Way and Thorne Road so he could build 440 houses, a park with wetlands, a swimming pool, a sports centre and other amenities.
In January 2025, Griffith Council voted to only partially support his proposal, allowing him to develop on the two blocks north of Leonard Road but not on the one next to Kidman Way, which council argued was a flood risk and too close to a noisy highway.
Mr Scobie said this could delay his development by up to five years, at a time the town desperately needed more housing. He said including the Kidman Way block was necessary because it was a natural low point, enabled the creation of a wetlands park that could help with flood mitigation and provided for more land to build houses immediately.
He therefore held a public meeting at the Hanwood Sports Club to pitch his case directly to residents.
“Hanwood is going to become the destination of choice for Griffith if we get this right … it’s the best part of town,” he said.
“We don’t want to wait five years; we came here in 2023 and think we should have had 70 homes built already.”
Civil engineer Guillaume De Swardt said that including the Kidman Way block in the plans would reduce flood risks. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Pastor Steven Rand told the meeting it was now impossible to build and buy a house in Griffith for less than one million dollars.
“I’m currently doing a similar development in Launceston; people are buying brand new houses from between $550,000 and $600,0000,” Mr Scobie said.
“If you want housing to be affordable, you can’t have this restricted supply, but for whatever reason this town is keeping that restricted supply in place.
“When we came here in 2022, [developer] Maas Group had plans for Collina but still haven’t turned soil; Lake Wyangan has been approved since 2013, but still haven’t turned.”
Mr Scobie said the slow pace of development was preventing Griffith from getting the services it desperately needed.
“I had a doctor try to exchange contracts with me to set up a GP surgery, but it was taking too long; he lost interest,” he said.
Pastor Rand said Griffith lost three psychologists last year alone due to the lack of housing and that he was having similar problems trying to find land to enable the expansion of his Christian school Verity Christian College.
Mr Scobie’s plans for a development in Hanwood. Photo: Supplied.
Planner Martin Ruggeri said Cite Group’s proposal to build a park and wetlands capable of holding 60 million litres of water would not only help counter the impacts of floods but also make Hanwood the most attractive part of town.
“Where in Griffith have we got a park that looks half as good as the one at the back of Yanco … that’s what we’re proposing on a larger scale,” he said.
“Every time you drive past Yanco, you look on your left and think, ‘I’d go for a walk with my dogs on a Sunday morning’; we don’t have that.”
Mr Scobie said he wanted Hanwood to have more of a community feel, with houses built closer to the park, services and cafes to make it easier for people to walk around and socialise. He said at one point he even floated the idea of moving Hanwood Public School to create more of a village feel – though that wasn’t part of the current plans.
Griffith Council has sent the proposal to rezone the two blocks north of Leonard Road, but excluding the Kidman Way block, to the NSW Government’s planning department for approval.
After a generally positive response from the community meeting, Cite Group is now considering taking its full original proposal directly to the department for special consideration. Mr Scobie said those who supported his vision and the need for housing in town could help him by filling out a community survey or writing to councillors and MP for Murray Helen Dalton to express their views.
