Chisholm and Lochinvar to share in more than 500 new housing blocks

Lochinvar will see another 312 blocks added to the suburb in an extension of the Lochinvar Ridge estate and the Waterford Living estate at Chisholm will have another 190. Blocks at Lochinvar will range from 450 to 1406 sqm metres while those at Chisholm will be 487 to 2195 sqm metres.

The Lochinvar development on Christopher Road, owned by Edwin James Aird Junior and Lochinvar Ridge Estate Pty Ltd, will be completed in 10 stages.

A local park, kiosk, electricity substation and two detention basins and reserves will be built as part of the project.

Avid Residential Estates Pty Ltd, who owns the Chisholm development, is expected to spend $17.2 million on the project. It will create 100 lots in the first stage and 90 lots in stage 2 and include a wildlife corridor.

More than 13 hectares of native vegetation will be cleared to make it possible and the old O'Brien's Quarry site will be filled in. More than 142,000 cubic metres of fill will be brought in to make that happen.

The blocks will be built to the east of Waterford Living's main entry on Settlers Boulevard and on the northern side of Raymond Terrace Road.

Both development applications went before Maitland councillors last month and were given the green light.

Councillors unanimously supported the Lochinvar development but the Chisholm decision was split 6-5 with wildlife, truck movements and the amount of fill required to complete the project causing some a lot of concern. Councillors Robert Aitchison, Stephanie Fisher, Sally Halliday, Ben Mitchell and Ben Whiting voted against it.

Cr Fisher said if she kept supporting development at the environment's expense there wouldn't be much left.

Cr Fisher said the council needed to "try to find a happy balance between environment and housing".

"Our wildlife needs its housing ... The amount of development in the city is becoming insane," she said.

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Cr Aitchison said the Chisholm plan was a "huge development" and he didn't believe it was the best use of the land or resources.

He pushed for another condition in the development consent that forced the developer to install two glider posts on the northern end with boxed rope ladder crossings to assist some of the fauna to move around the wildlife corridor.

He said that addition would give "some sort of carriageway" and it looked as though the council was "making an effort to try to do something".

He also urged the developer not to repeat past clearing disasters in the suburb where trees were felled with baby birds still in nests.

Cr Hackney was "a little bit baffled" at the idea of having a green corridor with a road going through it. He questioned whether a bridge overpass could be installed to help animals pass safely, pointing out that "not all animals can climb poles and use the glider poles".

The size of the corridor had Cr Mitchell concerned, along with the amount of fill the site required.

Deputy mayor, Cr Mitchell Griffin, said he was initially concerned about the plan but was no longer worried after a briefing. He said the wildlife corridor paved the way for future tree planting.

"This Urban Release Area (URA) is a regionally significant development area required to achieve the dwelling targets for population growth in the Lower Hunter," council's principal planner Georgie Williams said.

The Lochinvar site, which was formerly used for low-intensity agriculture, will have roads that join with nearby subdivisions to improve access and traffic flow.

Maitland council's principal planner Brian Gibson said the New England Highway intersection with Springfield Drive and Sanctuary Drive would be improved to assist with traffic flow.

He said traffic movements were one of the concerns highlighted in submissions when the plan was released for public feedback.