Blue Horizon Estate, North Kellyville

Hi everyone,

I just thought I'd update this topic into a discussion about anything related to the development of Blue Horizon Estate, North Kellyville. Hopefully the information contained within this thread will benefit anybody who has purchased or is considering purchasing land in the estate.

Please use this thread to share and discuss any information/knowledge related to the development and the local area (i.e. development status updates, issues, progress reports etc.) to keep everyone informed.

I look forward to following the progress of the development and hearing about your experiences with building etc. and I look forward to meeting you all in the not too distant future.

Hi,

My wife and I have purchased a block in the estate, hoping to see a few more people pop in here. Have you purchased in the estate?

Hi guys, my fiancé and i bought a block in stage 1 in December last year.

We are building the milano 4 16 with McDonald Jones.

Looking forward to the process!

Hey,

My wife and i are building the Milano 4 15m! What lot number did you buy?

I'm hoping they are planning on doing something like a meet and greet so we get a chance to meet our neighbours..

Heya,

Wife and I are buying land in Blue Horizon. Hoping to see things starting to happen on-site soon.
Can't wait to build and move in!

Glad to see a forum for us to discuss all things relating to the estate.

Hi all,

We're looking into the area at present.

I was just wondering what everyone's experience had been like with the developer/blue horizon so far? What Lots are you guys on?

Hi everyone,

Also considering Blue Horizon seriously. Inside the 14 day registration period with little time to go!

I have a few question I'm hoping someone could answer?? (we will/would be first time home builders):
- during this period, how do you know the site costs? We see a LOT of rock on many blocks, under the soil. Has anyone had issues with this?
- Bushfire BAL rating...has anyone had issues with their builder charging a fortune based on the current BAL rating and what is the BAL currently? (developers told us 29, going to be 12.5, I haven't seen the contract as yet

JWA - we also love McDonald Jones homes. Any tips in working with them?? things to include? water tank and rain garden costs? will they do all of that for you also?

Thanks!

Hi, I've read the current Bushfire assessment report and yes it does not currently look good. They have not yet given individual lots ratings as the area will be subject to significant change and development in the coming months/years. Once the land has been cleared and development started, they will be in a better position to assess each lot and give ratings. Unless you are backing onto a bush area i'd just assume it would be 12.5 (little required) but hoping the rating is LOW (nothing required).

My wife and i are also first home builders so its all been a big learning curve for us. Site costs will vary depending who you build with and what the block is like from what i've found out. As the land is still undeveloped i have no idea what the final grading of the land will end up like. I'm hoping that they dont find anything really nasty when the final surveys are done to start building.

I'm also hoping the BAL rating will come down, theres no reason it wont as most of the trees causing issue won't be there once the land is developed. 12.5 from what i've seen shouldn't be too much of a surprise and i'm hoping it wont cause more dramas with MJH. We have our colour appt in a week and a bit i'll be asking them about it then to work it out on a 12.5 rating and go from there.

MJH so far have been really good to deal with, we locked in before christmas as there was a pretty decent promotion running at the time. they offer a no obligation quote so if theres something you like the look of get them to quote it up for you. We made a few changes to the plans and it ended up coming in pretty close to what i was guessing. If you want to know what we changed PM me. The water tank is included as part of the site costs BASIX requirements and there was even an allowance for the rain garden in the quote, not sure about plants and such but its something.

Here is a link to the Development application with the Hills council.
Some very helpful documents and helpful for tracking progress. It has the Geotech report on all tests carried out on the land etc

http://apps.thehills.nsw.gov.au/DATrack ... key=776057

Hi everyone,

We bought our block at Blue Horizon in November. We accepted our tender with Rawson Homes the week before Christmas & we're waiting for our first lot of plans. We're first time builders also.

Looking forward to keeping in touch and following everyone's progress.

Bec

So without giving too much personal info i was wondering about the demographics of people building in the area.

my wife and i are both round 30 and we have a 6 month old girl. We are lot 217 also.

What about anyone else? Would be good to know a little bit more about potential future neighbours.

Hi jwa,

We're both in our early 30's and we have an 18 month old.

BnA

Age: 30 and 36, no kids (yet!).

We are still in our 14 day land registration.

A few questions:
- Did anyone's solicitor pick up anything we need to be aware of in the land contract? For example, there doesn't seem to be any mention of the final land grading (hence holding them legally liable to do this), and the contact for the sale of land isn't in the developers name, rather the old lady living in the house up on stringer rd!!
- the quote for site fees (although an estimate at this stage until land registration) seems steep from Mcdonald Jones. Did anyone lock their builder into site fees costs or do they all say estimate only, final figure based on land registration and soil test at that stage?

Really good to see this thread gaining momentum! Thanks for everyone's help and comments.

Did everyone forfeit their holding deposit when you exchanged contracts? Or was it refunded?

I've been told we have forfeit if we go ahead with the contract, only refunded if we say no within 14 days.

A few more questions if I may (that we are getting differing answers for from different builders):
- I thought I read in the geotech report on Hills website regarding BH estate that we have a M class slab, medium salinity. What have you encountered and signed off on with your builder?
- rainwater tank - again different depending on the builder. What size does BH estate require? 3000, 4500 or 10000 litre.
- are your builders charging on top for recycled water and rainwater garden? If so do you mind if I ask what those extra costs are?

Thanks!

Hi, not sure on the slab class for ours yet. Should hopefully find out in the next week or so.
The North Kellyville Precinct requirement for the water tank is 3000L according to the Development Control Plan doc.
Clarendon have quote $5k for the raingarden.

How does everyone feel about the swales on one side of each road? Anyone have any clue on how these will be setup i.e. will they have grass, river stones and plants ???
Going through a drive of some of the other estates further along in the building process we saw some which looked quite nice but then others which were very un-kept and looked like an overgrown swamp.

Hi guys,

According to the geotechnical report, most of the estate has been classed M in regards to soil/substrate. Although, each lot will be subject to an assessment by your builder, so it could change. Hills council confirmed to me that the water tank size for the North Kellyville Precinct is 3000L. You can place these down the side of your house within the setbacks so they are out of sight.

I think the registered land in Gardeners Ridge (next door to Blue Horizon) gives a good indication as to what the swales will look like. The swales are always on the lower side of the road, with some sections grass and other sections stones/native grasses. If they are maintained well, they should look ok, but I'm not sure whose responsibility it is to maintain them as they sit within the council strip. Does anyone know whether council or the adjacent block is responsible for maintaining swales?

I'm aware we are responsible for maintaining our rain gardens.

Anyway, all of these stormwater control measures apply to the entire North Kellyville Precinct from Samantha Riley Drive all the way north along the ridge, so there is no avoiding it.

Given it's council land I would assume it is their responsibility for maintaining it but just like everything else with the council, it'll be done once every 100 years. I've already accepted it will be me who will have to keep the one in front of my block looking decent.