Housing looks likely to sit upon 50 hectares of high-value farmland at Freeling, with the state government saying code amendments in the area could help fix the state's housing crisis.
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Consultation recently finished on changing 30ha of rural zoned farmland - to the east of the town and owned by Windy Acres Pty Ltd and Terese Enterprise Pty Ltd - to a suburban neighbourhood zone, which could result in 230 housing allotments.
Minister for Planning Nick Champion has also initiated a code amendment to the west of the town, which could see 185 new residential allotments created on 20ha of farmland owned by Walton Rural Pty Ltd.
The land is located within the existing urban growth boundary for Freeling and is situated outside the Environment and Food Production Area and the Barossa Character Preservation District.
While community consultation is yet to open on the 20ha code amendment, Mr Champion is promoting the amendments as a way to fix the housing crisis.
"The key to fixing the housing crisis is increasing supply across growing areas of our state, which includes towns like Freeling," he said.
"There is currently very limited land supply within Freeling which has the potential to significantly increase house prices in the area.
"Given the region's proximity to the Barossa, as well as important farming and industrial land, the rezonings would create important housing options for people working in the area."
Light Regional Council mayor Bill O'Brien said the council was mindful of the need to provide additional supply in response to the housing shortage.
He said Freeling had a strong history of accommodating new residential growth, including the addition of the Freeling Estate.
Previous code amendments in the area have created angst, with farmers lamenting the loss of valuable agricultural land but others recognising the need for more housing.
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In the original code amendment proposal, the consulting firm said the "Freeling Estate was almost fully built, and the Schuster Estate was effectively fully sold, and with very little infill land divisions within Freeling, there is a need to ensure a continuation of available residential allotments in order to dampen price growth in the area".
Recent land sales in the area highlight how well renowned the area is for its cropping production.
In October last year, a 106ha cropping block was sold under the hammer for $3.45 million, equating to $32,547/ha or $13,218 an acre.
RELATED READING: Stunning price of $3.45m paid at auction for one large ...
Another 104ha eight kilometres north of the township sold for $2.4m, $23,077/ha or $9302/acre, in March last year.
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