Gifford Hill: $7.6 billion development would create 17,000 homes
The biggest land development in South Australia since the 1950s has been announced on the outskirts of Murray Bridge, with a focus on affordable housing.
Murray Bridge is poised to become the city where home buyers’ dreams are made following the announcement of a $7.6 billion, 17,000-house development at Gifford Hill.
Its proponents, Costa Property Group and Grange Development, describe it as the largest and most ambitious master-planned development in South Australia’s history.
In time, it could triple Murray Bridge’s population to more than 65,000.
Their plan: to develop 1860 hectares of farmland south of the South Eastern Freeway into an extension of the city’s urban area, with:
- 17,100 new homes
- Seven new schools
- Six neighbourhood centres with local shops and services
- 404 hectares of green space, two thirds of it bushland
At the heart of the development would be a second town centre, adjoining the Murray Bridge racecourse, with shops, offices and a “state-of-the-art sports and entertainment precinct”, including a polo ground.
In time, 3400 people would work in the new downtown area.
The first stage of the development, which will include about 1400 homes, is expected to be put on the market in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The entire project will likely take up to 40 years to complete.
It was a bold vision, the developers acknowledged, but entirely achievable, given the demand for housing in South Australia.
Gifford Hill was already zoned for development and had transport, water, sewage, power and gas all close at hand, which would bring the development’s infrastructure costs down.
“Our vision for Gifford Hill is built on the cornerstones of a great home, a decent-sized backyard, tree-lined streets, curated parks and reserves, and at an affordable price,” Grange Development managing director James Dibble said.
“More than 20 per cent of this precinct will be … open space, future-proofing this community for a changing climate.
“This region will lead and not lag.”
That matched the council’s vision for Murray Bridge, Mayor Wayne Thorley said: “a place where people can live well and thrive in an environment where jobs, education, affordable housing and a great, river lifestyle are accessible to all”.
The need for such developments on Adelaide’s outskirts was great, Costa Property Group’s Mike Schokman said.
Murray Bridge was a particularly attractive market, with property prices still 44 per cent lower than in the suburbs.
“Housing is not rocket science,” he said.
“More supply is needed to meet the population South Australia is forecast to have in the future.”
That population growth would create 12,000 jobs and generate $750 million worth of extra retail spending per year in the Murray Bridge district, Mr Dibble said, including at local businesses.
The council had spent years planning for Wednesday’s announcement, Mr Thorley said, including in a recent structure plan for future growth.
With 10% more jobs available than there were locals to fill them in agriculture, transport and other industries, Murray Bridge was ready to welcome thousands of extra residents.
“Our community has clearly told us it wants well planned growth,” he said.
“We are driving the planning for the physical and social infrastructure and facilities needed for our growing communities.”
Racing club chairman John Leahy said it was satisfying to see the development moving ahead after 20 years of planning and two years of negotiations with the new proponents.
“It’s exciting for the town, not only as a racing club but as a resident of Murray Bridge,” he said.
“It’ll be fantastic to have neighbours and have people utilise our function centre on a daily basis.”
What have Gifford Hill’s developers learned from Mount Barker?
In an extended interview with the developers, Murray Bridge News asked how Gifford Hill could avoid becoming another Mount Barker, with houses built gutter to gutter in disjointed neighbourhoods.
There were two key differences, Mr Dibble said:
- Gifford Hill was relatively flat – there weren’t so many hills and valleys to constrain development
- 81% of the master planned area already belonged to Costa and Grange, so infrastructure could be rolled out in a more orderly way
The developers would have to gain planning approval, but would not need any government investment to get started – “there’s no hurdles in terms of capital”.
In fact, the state government will charge the developers a total of $171 million to connect water to the new development.
“We’ve done all the costings on all the infrastructure, we understand where the initial stages are … we’ve met with the state government, done economic impact (modelling), we understand what the catchments are, what the distances are to every park, what the walkable catchments are to every school, what the demand is on commercial footprint – that has all been modelled,” Mr Dibble said.
“The master plan might be a pretty picture, but it is the outcome of technical work done by specialists.”
What did the proponents say to the doubters, those who didn’t think a development of this size was possible in a community like Murray Bridge?
“Come and visit us in Warrnambool, Geelong, Ballarat, Darwin, Perth – come to these places and look,” Mr Schokman said.
“Over time we’ve got smarter, too: we’ve invested more in parks.
“First home buyers, they’re families, so that attracts them; that attracts their friends … the first 200 people are hardest to sell to, and then their friends come, their brothers and sisters.
“So come, see it, touch it, feel it, go down the slide.”
Murray Bridge’s mayor and council CEO actually took that advice ahead of time, visiting Geelong and Ballarat in April to find out how those cities had managed rapid population growth.
They had been encouraged by what they had seen, CEO Heather Barclay said.
“The government didn’t put Murray Bridge in the GARP (Greater Adelaide Regional Plan) for fun,” she said.
“They earmarked Murray Bridge as a place for employment growth and residential growth.
“It’s situated well in terms of accessibility to Adelaide, but it can also stand alone.”
While state Housing Minister Nick Champion was conspicuously absent from Wednesday’s announcement, Mr Thorley and Ms Barclay said they had met with him as recently as this Tuesday.
“We’re absolutely working in partnership … to make sure that, moving forward, we understand roles and responsibilities in terms of infrastructure and planning,” Ms Barclay said.
In a statement, Mr Champion said Murray Bridge had great potential.
“There’s significant opportunities to increase the supply of housing, particularly affordable housing, in this part of the state,” he said.
“I congratulate the council and development partners for their vision for the city.
“As the project develops, the government will continue to work with the local council and project partners to unlock this housing opportunity by assisting with land rezoning and infrastructure planning.”
State MP Adrian Pederick said he would lobby the government for any health and public transport services that would be needed.
“I’ve never been more excited about the future of Murray Bridge as I am right now and I will work with all concerned … to make sure adequate infrastructure is rolled out in a structured manner,” he said.
“I look forward to welcoming the many thousands of future residents to the wonderful lifestyle Murray Bridge has to offer.”
Let’s rewind – how did we get to this point?
Attempts to build a new city in the scrub have been made before, most infamously by former Premier Don Dunstan at Monarto in the 1970s.
The development of Gifford Hill has been on the cards since 2004, when Murray Bridge Racing Club began planning to establish a new racecourse there.
A joint venture between the club and Burke Urban – who spearheaded the recent Newbridge development – was announced in January 2010, promising to create a suburb with up to 3500 new homes.
Since then, the ownership of the project has changed, the racing club chairman who envisioned it has passed away, and Murray Bridge has had two new mayors and three new council CEOs.
After delays associated with the global financial crisis, the new racecourse opened in 2019, its grand entrance facing out into an empty paddock.
More recently, Murray Bridge was earmarked for significant population growth in council and state government projections over the past two years – and the numbers seemed to increase with every update.
The Gifford Hill development was heavily foreshadowed in a council structure plan in January of this year, and Mr Thorley had dropped a few hints about it.
Another piece of the puzzle fell into place earlier this month, when Premier Peter Malinauskas announced that the state government would do more to support the roll-out of infrastructure in new housing developments.
Costa and Grange have previously collaborated on projects including a subdivision of a similar scale in Ballarat and Numa Nedlands, a $500 million, 330-apartment complex in Perth.
The Costa Property Group is not affiliated with the Costa Group which owns Adelaide Mushrooms at Monarto, though both were founded by the same family.
- More information: www.giffordhill.com.
- Register your interest: Fill out the form at www.giffordhill.com/#cta and mention that you heard about the development in Murray Bridge News.
- Read more: SA’s population is growing, and Murray Bridge has a role to play
- Read more: New R-12 school, main street changes and more planned in Murray Bridge
