Boundary change will allow an extra 10,400 homes to be built in Murray Bridge
South Australia’s parliament has rolled back Environment and Food Production Area protections which had stood in the way of the Gifford Hill housing development.
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The biggest housing development in Murray Bridge’s history is one step closer to going ahead after a zoning law change by South Australia’s parliament.
About 1500 hectares of land around the rural city had previously been included in an Environment and Food Production Area zone, limiting what could be built there.
The area included much of the land earmarked for the $7.6 billion Gifford Hill development.
MPs voted last Wednesday to allow housing to be built on three parcels of land around Murray Bridge, shown in red on the map above:
- West of Koehler Road, out to Pope Road, at Gifford Hill and White Hill
- Between Brinkley Road, Martin Road and the freeway at Murray Bridge South
- Throughout Northern Heights and Rocky Gully, out as far as Netley Road
State Housing and Urban Development Minister Nick Champion said the change, flagged in March, would be “massive” for South Australia’s future.
“This reform ensures we will have the land and the infrastructure in place to deliver the homes South Australians will need for generations to come,” he said.
“More homes mean more jobs, stronger communities and a more inclusive economy.”
However, MPs from the Liberal opposition criticised the government for failing to include a number of their suggestions, including a proposal to release additional land around Gifford Hill.
Builders are happy, farmers not so much
The change was welcomed by representatives of the property development, construction and housing industries.
Stephen Knight, of the Housing Industry Association SA, described it as “brave but necessary” in the face of the current housing shortage.
The Urban Development Institute of Australia’s Liam Golding suggested that restrictions on developing farmland had contributed to skyrocketing house prices.
But Grain Growers SA’s Brad Perry described the boundary change as bad news for primary producers.
“It’s a dark day for the grain industry, and agriculture more broadly, when some of the state’s prime cropping land ... is rezoned for housing, forever lost to grain production,” he said.
“These changes through Parliament … set a worrying precedent for the continued erosion of South Australia’s agricultural land.”
In total, cropping land around Roseworthy, Two Wells and Murray Bridge which had now been rezoned for housing was capable of producing 57 million loaves of bread per year, he said.
What will the changes mean?
As well as allowing agricultural land around Murray Bridge to be subdivided for housing, the boundary change will also allow an extra 43,800 homes to be built to the north of Adelaide, and 7000 around Victor Harbor and Goolwa.
For context, the state government’s Greater Adelaide Regional Plan projects that 315,000 homes will need to be built in the metropolitan area and its surrounds over the next 30 years.
At least 10,000 are likely to be needed in Murray Bridge.
The Gifford Hill development, which will likely supply a majority of them, is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025.
