Real Estate
19 July, 2026
Bowral South the focus of discussion at forum
Controversial plans for a major housing development on flood-prone land in South Bowral will be the focus of discussion at the next meeting of the Southern Highlands Community Forum.
Controversial plans for a major housing development on flood-prone land in South Bowral will be the focus of discussion at the next meeting of the Southern Highlands Community Forum.
Wednesday night’s (July 22) meeting will be held at The Venue in Station Street, Bowral commencing at 7.30pm.
Speakers on the night will be Member for Wollondilly Judy Hannan, Stop Bowral South advocate Paddy Moylan and John Barrett from the Friends of Bowral.
The proposed Bowral South New Living Area (NLA) would see more than 2000 homes built on a known flood plain.
The proposal has been widely criticised because of the flooding issue and because of the infrastructure requirements needed for 6000 new residents.
There are also concerns over the impact it would have on Bowral’s character.
Nevertheless council is pushing ahead and has already spent more than $600,000 progressing plans associated with the proposal.
Mrs Hannan recently used a Private Member’s Statement in Parliament to call for the project to be stopped.
She said the proposed site of the NLA in Burradoo was regularly inundated after heavy rain and thousands of new homes would be at risk.
Mrs Hannan said importing huge amounts of fill to mitigate the flooding would simply push floodwaters onto existing adjacent problems and would create a “flood island effect” – effectively isolating residents of the NLA and cutting them off from essential services.
Mayor Jesse Fitzpatrick subsequently wrote to Mrs Hannan asking her to provide “the evidence, technical advice, agency correspondence, modelling, reports or expert opinions” to support a number of her claims.
According to council’s website, the vision for Bowral South is “an inclusive and well-connected community with homes for all and a shared identity that celebrates local cultural heritage”.
Council says it is “continuing to lead the master planning process, engaging with our community and State agencies to ensure this future residential development is well-planned, well-designed and supported by essential infrastructure”.
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