Locals have raised formal opposition to the Cartwright development with the Yass council, expressing concern that the development could destroy the character of the small rural village just across the ACT border.

The local Cartwright family has proposed selling about 180 hectares of land that has been in its family for more than 150 years.

The land sits between the town's south and the Federal Highway, with the Yass River and a tulip farm to the east, and Sutton Road to the west.

The development would accommodate 64 new residential blocks, according to documents lodged with the NSW government by Capital Region Planning.

Residents in Sutton relied on rainwater and bore water, with the development likely to put pressure on the availability of groundwater, one resident said in their submission.

"In 2004, the groundwater usage was between 200 and 300 [per cent] of sustainable yield in Sutton," their submission said.

"Last summer, many village bores ran dry."

The submission also said rainfall had become less consistent.

"Any additional development is likely to rely on an guaranteed supply of potable water trucked in from the ACT," the submission said.

One resident is concerned approving the Cartwright development would "open the flood gates" for more developers, pointing to an old development proposal for 2000 residential lots in Sutton.

More recently, in 2016, developers proposed a 5000-block development.

The Cartwright's 64-block proposal is more conservative by comparison. It would see a mix of 5000-square-metre residential blocks and larger, 1.5-hectare blocks.

The largest section of the land proposed for development would be zoned off as an environmental corridor.

Peter and Paul Cartwright, the two brothers behind the proposal, said in June it was about leaving a legacy in their dad's name.

"We want the Sutton community to be proud of the Cartwright legacy," Paul Cartwright said.

Their father, Bill Cartwright, had set about restoring the land to pre-European conditions before he died in 2016.

"His view was he was holding on to it. You wouldn't call him an environmentalist," Peter Cartwright said.

In one submission, a resident said the local primary school was "overloaded" and said schools in northern ACT had begun to restrict enrolments.

"There are also issues with accessing over border ACT hospitals [and] other services," the submission said.

Others said the increased traffic would require a bypass around the village, with one submission raising concern about the potential risk to cyclists as drivers exited Sutton off Sutton Road onto the Old Federal Highway.