The Murravale Estate at Tangambalanga will provide up to 221 higher-density residential allotments.

Another 67 low-density lots and nine rural living zones are part of plans for more than 100 hectares on Kiewa Huon Road.

Indigo mayor Bernard Gaffney said the estate was a “vote of confidence” that would allow people to enjoy the shire’s lifestyle while working in Wodonga.

“They’re all large blocks — the shire is all about growth,” he said.

“We hope to attract tree-changers and also young families.”

Pat Murphy, from PJ Murphy Real Estate at Tangambalanga, said the man behind the proposal was the landowner.

“It’s been his long-term vision to develop the site and bring much-needed development to Tangambalanga,” he said.

“There’s been no land developed in the area for eight years, so there’s significant demand.”

Statistics put to the council this week showed the lack of available land at Tangambalanga and Kiewa — in 2006, there was just one year of supply in the areas, compared with 25 years’ supply at Beechworth, 42 at Rutherglen, 19 at Chiltern, 31 at Yackandandah, 28 at Wahgunyah and 41 at Barnawartha.

Mr Murphy said the owner wanted either a joint-venture or investment partners “to move this project forward”.

He said the project required backers.

“It’s an overall master plan that’s been approved and obviously it has rezoning,” he said.

“There’s three land types — a rural living zone, low density of one to two acres as well as a significant level of residential land.

“We’re already in discussions with a developer from outside the area,” he said.

“It’s also being advertised as a development site.”

Mr Murphy said he had lived in Tangambalanga and Kiewa for 30 years and was very familiar with the area.

“It’s a bit of a nervous time to see what format this will take, I suppose, but, in reality, the proposal has something like 200-plus residential blocks.

“But it might be different than that because that’s 20 years’ supply.”

Mr Murphy said the only other developer of rural living zones in that area was Nordcon.

“We know that the rural living zone product — which is an average of 3.2 hectares — is extremely sought after within the radius of Albury-Wodonga,” he said.

“That’s particularly in the Ovens and Kiewa valleys and Yackandandah valley.”

Mr Murphy said that meant there could possibly be a fine-tuning of the development towards these type of blocks.

“This really is an exciting step forward for the township,” he said.