Thornton was once a small little village on the outskirts of Maitland that was characterised by post Second World War bungalows mixed with a piecemeal of low density dwellings and a small industrial estate to the south. Over the years areas around the suburb (Somerset Drive) were opened up for land release and the area has expanded. The area was popular for workers of the Newcastle Industrial areas and the RAAF Base due to the lot sizes and access to essential services.

In recent years the Thornton North Area and Chisholm were marked by the NSW Government as potential land release areas to meet the population growth of the area and subsequently the area has been transformed from a quiet village to a major suburban area of the Maitland/Hunter Valley area.

The area is now under rapid change with new major land releases and other developments being approved by Maitland Council regularly, often with little to no neighbour or community consultation. The issues facing the suburb and the exponential rate of growth are around the infrastructure for the area particularly around the increases local traffic for the area. 

Traffic Impact 

One of the main issues with the traffic of Thornton is the conjestion at the end of the M1 Motorway (F3 Freeway) with the traffic being directed into a single lane and sent through a series of two roundabouts creating a dog leg. The result is that the roundabouts create a bottle neck resulting in a substantial delay for general traffic entering a residential suburb. This continues to be one of the biggest issues with any development around Thornton.

Chisholm Land Release

The main area of development within Thornton is Chisholm which is technically a new suburb adjacent to Thornton, Morpeth and Woodburry. The new land release contains a new Catholic Primary School, Catholic High School and childcare services as well as a recently approved Supermarket development for the suburb that is believed to be Woolworths. 

We have assisted our clients within Chisholm with their town planning enquires and application with Maitland Council or through a private certifier in order to obtain their development approval. 

Industrial and Residential areas of Thornton

1. Residential Thornton

This area begins at the Railway Bridge leading into Thornton from the M1 (F3 Freeway) and for the purpose of this article it extends through to Chisholm and Morpeth. The residential area of Thornton contains a small shopping centre and it is noted that Chisholm has recently been approved for a new supermarket.

2. Industrial Thornton

The industrial area of Thornton is located on the southern side of the railway bridge and contains a number of critical industrial warehouses that service the area and other businesses such as Origin Energy, Mortells, KFC, Red Rooster, S2F Fitness, Volvo, Stratco and countless other businesses. We have helped businesses within this area gain their development approvals and can assist with your development approval.

Recent approvals for the area through Hunterlands has raised serious concerns as to whether Maitland Council were considering the local area in providing approvals for these developments.