Nestled between the western reaches of Lake Burley Griffin and in the lee of Mt Stromlo, the emerging suburbs of Coombs and Wright could be some of the ACT's most picturesque and desirable residential areas.
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The combination of physical beauty and good access to central Canberra has already made them a popular choice with young families and down sizers.
Just five minutes from Stromlo Forest Park and a 15 minute drive from Civic, they offer the best of both worlds. This is why almost 70 per cent of the blocks offered have already been sold. More than 5,000 people are already in residence and thousands more are on the way.
Coombs, the first of the new suburbs to be released in Molongolo valley, was already home to 1800 people by the 2016 Census.
Current and prospective residents are paying top dollar. Prices start at $440,000 for a 448 square metre block and rise to $550,000 for a 625 square metre spread.
Those who have built, or are in the process of building, have made substantial investments on the understanding planning for development density and housing patterns was done and dusted and they knew what they were buying into.
That is not necessarily the case. Fears are emerging many of the crimes against good planning and aesthetics that have marred much of Canberra's recent development history in the north could be about to be repeated.
While Gungahlin is constantly feted as one of the ACT's fastest growing areas, critics of its development point to the proliferation of high rise apartment buildings and large, multi-storey, McMansions perched on tiny blocks against a rural backdrop.
Battle lines have now been drawn between existing residents and developers along the Molongolo following moves by Zapari to build a seven storey, 21.5 metre tall, tower potentially containing 212 units on land originally slated for up to 44.
Zapari says the land, on John Gorton Drive, for which it paid the government almost $3.4 million in February, came with provision for up to 97 units. It attributes the discrepancy to an error.
Regardless of which of these figures is correct, the latest application, lodged last month, represents a major departure from what the town planners originally envisioned and existing stakeholders expected to be built.
It would, if approved, give Zapari and the government a significant windfall. The developer would pocket the profits from the sale of up to 168 additional units. The government would benefit from the additional rates.
In the event Zapari's proposal does get across the line the government will have left itself open to fresh accusations its' planning agenda is driven by what's best for the developers; not what's best for the residents of the neighbourhoods in which these developments occur.
The locals, who include "Save Molongolo" Facebook page creator, Ryan Hemsley, have a good point when they say they bought into one vision of Wright and Coombs only to find the Barr government now seems to consider its original determinations to be a "moveable feast".
We have one chance to get the development of the Molongolo corridor right. If the government drops the ball by allowing developers to have it all their own way residents will be stuck with the consequences forever.
