Plans lodged for 5000 homes in stage two of Hunter's newest town

Developer LWP Property has already constructed a town centre and about 1200 houses, homing roughly 3000 people.

Project director Stephen Thomas said the second stage of the development, located south of Branxton, was primarily a residential subdivision.

"Stage two is bringing the population to support more amenities, because more people means more services," Mr Thomas said.

"Picture Singleton with all its amenities; supermarkets, facilities, shopping, dining - all of that is intended for Huntlee.

"The idea being that you can do your day-to-day living in Huntlee."

The second phase will also involve completing the town centre and "strengthening connectivity with Branxton rail station".

About 50 to 60 per cent of buyers are from four local government areas; Cessnock, Singleton, Maitland and Lake Macquarie.

Roughly 30 to 40 per cent are from Sydney, particularly in the Western suburbs, with the balance from Central Coast and regional NSW.

"We're definitely seeing strong demand out of western Sydney - Kellyville is our biggest market," Mr Thomas said.

"From Huntlee, you can be in the Sydney CBD in about two hours with the new NorthConnex tunnel. If you're in western Sydney to get into the heart of Sydney you're looking at an hour and 15 minutes, sometimes more.

"So it makes sense for them to come here for a much better lifestyle, and still be roughly the same distance from inner Sydney."

LWP Property has begun the process to get the second stage approved by the NSW government and Mr Thomas hoped it would be ticked off within 12 months.

"It's shovel ready, so we could kick off tomorrow if it was approved," Mr Thomas said.

Stage two is just one of many expansions planned for the town over the next 20 years.

"We're the sole land owner out there, so there are no arguments about where a park might go, or where the school or shopping centre is going, so we get the best possible outcome," Mr Thomas said.

"That's not common, and it's why we were attracted to the land in the first place."

The area being developed was the point of contention in a legal dispute with a Hunter-based rail group, who had several heritage trains stored on the land, worth millions of dollars.

In mid-2022, the train enthusiasts sought for up to three years to remove their property from the $1.5 billion development site. However the Supreme Court ruled in the developer's favour and the trains have since been relocated.