The Thurgoona and Wirlinga area had previously been tipped to swell from 3500 to about 30,000 within 30 years, but that figure was upgraded up to 50,000 last night at a community forum.

Planners from RPS consulting, which has been hired by Albury Council, told about 300 residents at the Thurgoona Country Golf Club Resort that as many as nine new primary schools and five new secondary schools would be needed to cope with the influx.

They also predicted a need for three new major neighbourhood shopping and business precincts, and at least one new major sports ground.

Walking trails and bike paths were high on the agenda, as were parks and open spaces.

But absent from the plan was a hospital, as the planners said they had been advised by the government the forecast population won’t require a separate one.

Plans for provision of emergency services are still being worked out, as are buffer zones to separate high-density areas from low-density areas.

The plan is only in its first stages.

Albury Council acting general manager Michael Keys said it was about making sure the proper infrastructure was developed for the booming population.

He said the council wanted to make sure it got it right the first time.

“We’ve got growth rate of 1.2 per cent, and it’s been as high as 1.6 per cent, so we’ve got to have that population catered for,” Mr Keys said.

“In the past two years 60 per cent of that growth has happened in Thurgoona.

“This is flat, urban land available for development — it will be a place that grows.”