There’s a lot of change afoot in Western Sydney. Parramatta is undergoing a huge suburb-wide makeover, Sydney Olympic Park is due to grow by more than 400 per cent over the next 20 years, and there’s a whole new CBD (the first major city to be built in Australia in more than 100 years) appearing on the doorstep of Western Sydney’s new international airport. Now, draft plans have been revealed for another new development: a 41.32-hectare block of land (with space for 550 dwellings) in Austral, a small suburb around 15 minutes from the new airport.
Stretching across 41.32 hectares, the plot of land at 10 Gurner Avenue is one of the largest ever landholdings in Austral, and has sold for a record $119.5 million. The new owners are one of Western Sydney’s largest residential developers, responsible for some of the biggest residential developments in the area. As of early May 2025, Castle Group have seven major housing development projects under their belt, totalling more than a thousand homes. Now, they’re working on a mega development set to transform the suburb of Austral – with an estimated 550 new homes due to be built on the site.
The population of Austral – which was 12,656 in 2024, according to the census – is already growing rapidly, with forecasts predicting it would increase by more than 42,000 people by 2026 (that's a population increase of more than 330 per cent in just two years). According to Castle Group, their vision for the site is “a connected and sustainable master-planned community of 550 homes, where its residents will benefit from proximity to major infrastructure and jobs at the Western Sydney Airport and aerotropolis, while enjoying the natural bushland of Western Sydney Parklands at their doorstep.”
Head of Development of Castle Group, Stuart Allen explained that the development will help to meet the growing demand for low and medium-density housing in Western Sydney, with the close proximity to the new airport (and adjoining metro line) meeting the NSW Governments plans to build more well-connected homes across the state.
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