A NEW town that will accommodate up to 20,000 people near Branxton has been approved by the NSW Government.
The $1.8 billion project, called Huntlee New Town, is expected to create 3000 jobs and preserve nearly 5900 hectares for conservation.
NSW Planning Minister Kristina Keneally has touted the plan as "a win all round for the people of the Lower Hunter".
The concept plans include 160 hectares of commercial and employment lands and up to 7500 residential lots.
However, some of the greatest critics of the Huntlee New Town come from within government.
The Roads and Traffic Authority criticised "inconsistencies" in the plans and dubbed employment estimates "questionable".
It savaged traffic demand modelling and said more lanes would need to be built on the New England Highway.
"New England Highway is at capacity and in the absence of the F3 to Branxton Link Rd, an additional two lanes in each direction will be required on the highway," it stated.
Cessnock Council criticised the infrastructure plans and was stripped of planning powers over the project.
The Department of Primary Industries called for restrictions on the project due to fears there would be mine subsidence.
The Huntlee project, once known as Sweetwater, was included in the Lower Hunter Regional Strategy by the former planning minister Frank Sartor.
Ms Keneally said it would provide many of the homes needed to fulfil population growth targets.
"Huntlee's ability to accommodate more than 7000 homes is significant. It will make up more than 6 per cent of the total number of new homes that will be delivered in the Lower Hunter by the year 2031," she said.
"As an added bonus, the protection of nearly 5900 hectares of land for conservation will ensure the protection and preservation of several endangered ecological communities."
But Cessnock Cr James Ryan said the development would place the critically endangered plant Persoonia pauciflora at risk of extinction and some of the area put aside for conservation was so contaminated by heavy chemicals it was of little value.
The managing director of the WA-based LWP Property Group, which will manage the project, Danny Murphy, said the land would be rehabilitated.
LWP is a large shareholder of Huntlee Holdings, which purchased the project from Hardie Holdings in 2006.
Mr Murphy rejected claims that the roll-out of infrastructure would be too slow to keep up with growth, saying $50 million would be spent before the first resident moved in.
"It will be spent on roads, upgrades to the water and sewage system and some major new parks," he said.
"We are investing $15 million in public buses to supplement the train services."
The project has been dogged in controversy, with secret planning documents made public last year showing the development was ranked last out of 91 potential development sites for the Lower Hunter.
In an email dated September 2006 obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald, the Department of Planning's then regional director for the Hunter, Steve Brown, said it was not well served by transport and was 20 kilometres from the nearest urban centre, Maitland.
He said the Government was making "massive" concessions with "little justification".
Ms Keneally's office said the plan was approved because it was "very different to the original proposal".
The Greens have savaged the decision.
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