Work has begun on Gungahlin's newest suburb of Moncrieff, which will be home to about 5000 residents.
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The first stage of $150 million of capital works will include the western part of the suburb, a 62-hectare area that will house about 1000 dwellings and a commercial precinct.
The development of Moncrieff, which is next to Amaroo and Ngunnawal, has been delayed for several years because of federal environmental legislation.
The Land Development Agency released the first 522 dwelling sites in June in a ballot restricted to ACT builders.
The sale reaped more than $110 million from small and medium builders.
Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the government was undertaking all the civil work at one time to get the land to market as soon as possible.
The land is being prepared in four civil works packages.
Contracts have been awarded to Group One and Canberra Contractors and the other two will be allocated soon for work in the eastern part of the suburb.
''This represents a fast tracked process,'' Mr Barr said. ''We're undertaking a number of packages of work simultaneously in order to get the land to the market quicker, recognising that there is demand in the city for more affordably priced residential, particularly in the single residential market.''
The minister said there would be a range of affordable blocks in the development and the suburb should attract interest because of its location and proximity to a major transport corridor.
''I think there will be interest but the pricing points will be competitive, recognising that this land is competing with some other locations within the ACT but also land in surrounding NSW,'' Mr Barr said.
He said there were still half a dozen suburbs to be developed in Gungahlin but the area was not going to be as populated as once predicted because of the land recently set aside for conservation.
The Gungahlin Strategic Assessment, signed off by the federal government last year, drastically reduced the amount of land available for development.
Land Development Agency executive Chris Reynolds said this scale of development in Moncrieff was a first for the agency.
''We're going to get people on their land as quickly as possible,'' he said.
Mr Reynolds said another 350-plus dwelling sites would be released for sale in Moncrieff in November.