Development in Snowy Mountains

NSW

Building approvals, live development applications and major projects across the Snowy Mountains statistical area — covering Snowy Monaro Regional and Bega Valley.

SA3 10103 Rest of NSW 21,448 residents 4 statistical areas
Approved · FY25 65 dwellings approved
vs 5-yr average 97 average approvals a year
In the queue 28 live applications
Major projects 24 14 already under construction
Data Sources ABSCouncil planning portals ABS to June 2026 · Refreshed ABS QuickStats SA3 10103 How we calculate this

The Pipeline Development Pipeline in Snowy Mountains

1 Proposed 28 applications in assessment Leading · to June 2026 See applications ↓
2 Approved 65 dwellings approved in 2024-25, or 0.31 per 100 existing dwellings a year Official · ABS to June 2026 See approvals ↓
3 Building 24 major projects committed or under construction, 14 of them already on site Forward · completions to 2030+ See projects ↓
4 Delivered 404 new addresses verified since the 2021 Census, up 3.3% on the existing base Actual · to June 2026 Where it landed ↓
In the 2024-25 financial year the ABS recorded 65 dwelling approvals across Snowy Mountains. Right now, 28 development applications are before the 2 councils covering the area. AreaSearch tracks 24 major projects here that are committed or under construction, the largest being Snowy 2.0 Pumped Hydro Project at an estimated $12.0bn. On the ground, 404 new addresses have been verified since the 2021 Census — growth of 3.3% on the existing address base.

These four figures are deliberately not added together. An application, an approval and a project under construction are often the same building at three points in its life, measured by three different bodies with three different lags. Read them as a sequence, not a total.

Approved Building Approvals in Snowy Mountains

What councils and certifiers have formally permitted — the ABS series, published about four months in arrears.

Approvals are running at 0.31 per 100 existing dwellings a year, below the New South Wales rate of 0.59. The mix is genuinely split — 63% of recent approvals are detached houses and 37% are attached or higher-density dwellings. Detached houses make up 87% of the homes already standing here but only 63% of the past five years of approvals, so the area is densifying. The average approved dwelling is valued at $473,000 in construction cost.

Dwelling units approved each financial year. The dashed line is the five-year average of 97.

How intensively is it building?

Dwelling approvals a year per 100 existing dwellings.

Snowy Mountains 0.31
New South Wales 0.59
Australia 0.71

What is here, and what is coming

Detached houses as a share of existing homes, against the share of recent approvals.

Existing homes (2021 Census) 87%
Approved, last 5 years 63%
Approved, latest year 63%
Detached houses Apartments, townhouses & other

Approvals mix by year

Share of each year’s approvals.

2022
2023
2024
2025
2024-25
$32.5m
Residential work approved
2024-25
$129m
Commercial work approved
construction cost
$473,000
Average value per approved dwelling
last two years
323
Residents per approval

Supply & Demand Is Snowy Mountains Building Enough Homes?

The same approvals, measured against the population they have to house.

Snowy Mountains approves about 4.5 new dwellings a year for every 1,000 residents. Since the 2021 Census it has added 731 residents and 404 new addresses — about 1.8 extra people per home built, below the 2.7-person average household, so building has run ahead of population growth. Housing the population projected for 2041 implies roughly 67 new dwellings a year from here, which puts the recent approval rate of 97 a year comfortably ahead of what the projection needs.

Growth against supply since the Census

People added for every new address verified, against the size of an average local household.

People added per new home 1.8
Average household size 2.7

A bar longer than the household average means the area gained more residents than its new housing could hold, and the extra had to be absorbed by existing homes.

Approval rate against projected need

Dwellings a year: what is currently being approved, against what the 2041 population projection implies.

Approved (5-yr average) 97
Implied need to 2041 67

Implied need assumes the average household stays at today’s 2.7 people. Approvals are not completions, and not every approval is built.

ProposedLEADING · to June 2026 Development Applications in Snowy Mountains

What is being asked for right now — applications collected from council planning portals, before any of it reaches the ABS series above. AreaSearch tracks applications of material scale; routine minor works such as signage and fencing changes are not carried, so these are not counts of every application lodged. 8 of them carry an AreaSearch analyst assessment — look for the Analysed marker in the search below.

AreaSearch tracks 302 development applications of material scale lodged with councils across Snowy Mountains, the most recent in June 2026. 28 of them are still in assessment. The biggest categories in the queue by value are industrial, retail and aged care.

Estimated value of applications by development type. This is the clearest single picture of what kind of place Snowy Mountains is being asked to become. A further 1 application sit across 1 smaller category, too few to plot.

Where the applications stand

As reported by the council. Highlighted rows are applications still in assessment.

Determined 205
Under Assessment 30
Approved 22
Returned 17
Cancelled 9
Additional Information Requested 7

11 applications are still marked under assessment but were lodged more than 18 months ago. Councils often leave determined or abandoned applications open in their feeds, so they are counted here but excluded from the live queue above.

By local government area

Applications on record within each council area that overlaps Snowy Mountains. This counts applications inside this statistical area only — it is not a total for the council.

Snowy Monaro Regional 301

Recent applications in Snowy Mountains

By estimated cost of works, as lodged. Estimates are the applicant’s own figures and are not verified by AreaSearch.

Industrial / Warehousing development Jindabyne - Berridale · Under Assessment · lodged Feb 2026
$1.4m
Large Retail Developments and Commercial / Office Cooma Surrounds · Additional Information Requested · lodged Feb 2026
$723k

BuildingFORWARD Major Projects & Infrastructure in Snowy Mountains

What is funded and moving — the projects large enough to change how Snowy Mountains works, ranked by committed value and how close they are to delivery.

AreaSearch tracks 24 current projects across Snowy Mountains. The largest is Snowy 2.0 Pumped Hydro Project at an estimated $12.0bn, due by 2029. That breaks down as 14 under construction, 3 approved and awaiting a start and 7 still in planning. The pipeline is weighted toward residential development, energy and sports & recreation.
Snowy 2.0 Transmission Connection Project
Under construction $600m by 2026

Snowy 2.0 Transmission Connection Project

The Snowy 2.0 Transmission Connection Project is delivering about 9 km of new 330 kV double-circuit overhead transmission lines from the Snowy 2.0 cable yard at Lobs Hole across the Tumut River to Maragle…

Jindabyne - Berridale

Snowy 2.0 Pumped Hydro Project
Under construction $12.0bn by 2029

Snowy 2.0 Pumped Hydro Project

Snowy 2.0 is a 2,200 MW pumped-hydro expansion of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, linking Tantangara and Talbingo reservoirs via 27 km of tunnels. As of May 2026, the project is approximately 70% complete with…

Jindabyne - Berridale

Snowy 2.0
Under construction $12.0bn by 2028

Snowy 2.0

Snowy 2.0 is a 2,200 MW pumped-hydro expansion of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, linking the Tantangara and Talbingo reservoirs via 27km of tunnels and a new underground power station 800m deep. As of early 2026…

Cooma Surrounds

Also in the pipeline

Coonerang Wind Farm In planning · Energy · by 2029 · Cooma Surrounds
$450m
Cooma Solar and Battery Project In planning · Energy · by 2028 · Cooma Surrounds
$350m
Alpine Rise - Cooma Land Project Under construction · Residential Development · by 2027 · Cooma
$50m
Jindabyne Lakeside Under construction · Residential Development · by 2028 · Jindabyne - Berridale
$30m
Alpine Rise Under construction · Residential Development · by 2026 · Cooma
$24m
Mountainside Jindabyne Under construction · Communities, Precincts & Urban Renewal · by 2030 · Jindabyne - Berridale
$50m
Monaro Highway Safety Upgrades Under construction · Transport & Logistics · by 2026 · Cooma Surrounds
$20m
Cooma Festival Swimming Pool Upgrades Under construction · Sports & Recreation · by 2027 · Cooma
$5m
Nugget's Crossing Shopping Centre Expansion Under construction · Retail · by 2027 · Jindabyne - Berridale
$3m
Jindabyne Mountain Bike and Adventure Park In planning · Sports & Recreation · Jindabyne - Berridale
$50m
3 Thurrung Street Residential Subdivision In planning · Residential Development · by 2026 · Cooma
$8m
The Lake - East Jindabyne In planning · Communities · by 2028 · Jindabyne - Berridale

9 further projects in Snowy Mountains are not listed here.

Combined values on this page exclude 1 record that appear to be separate stages of a project already counted. Both are still listed above with their own values.

AI Generated Denotes AI-based impression for illustrative purposes only, not to be taken as definitive under any circumstances. Please follow links and conduct other investigations from the project’s source for actual imagery. Developers and project owners wishing us to use original imagery please Contact Us and we will do so.

Estimated value of tracked projects by the year they are due to complete, stacked by how certain they are. The dark band is money already being spent; the pale band is still an intention. Estimates are indicative and mix infrastructure cost with whole-of-precinct development value, so read the shape rather than the totals.

Approvals Pipeline Development Applications in Snowy Mountains

Development applications around Snowy Mountains

Development approvals is a new addition to AreaSearch. We’re actively expanding council coverage and refining the dataset — details and statuses for some councils may be partial. Check back regularly for the latest pipeline.
Applications
In the local catchment
Est. Value
Where disclosed
Under Assessment
Awaiting determination
Determined
Approved or decided
Approvals pipeline Status, location, timing and project scale

Loading development applications…

Lodged Address Description Type Distance Status

SOURCE: Planning portals and council registers, compiled by AreaSearch. Distance & bearing measured from the suburb midpoint.

ProfessionalPRO Development Map for Snowy Mountains

Applications and major projects plotted where they are actually proposed, with the 32 projects AreaSearch tracks here on their own tab — filterable by type, delivery stage, area and committed value. To search every application on record rather than this sample, use the section above.

Distribution Where Development Is Happening in Snowy Mountains

Snowy Mountains covers 4 statistical areas. Follow any of them through for a full profile of population, housing, sales and amenity at local scale.
Map builder

Each area below opens a map builder on its own page — a tool for putting a map and a table into a report. Pick the place types you want plotted (schools, supermarkets, medical, child care, transport and the rest of what AreaSearch holds), add development applications as their own layer, drop your own points, then recolour, renumber and export the result as a table or CSV. A this area only toggle clips everything to the boundary you are looking at. Searches are charged against your credit balance — 1 credit per 40 results from AreaSearch data — and setting filters costs nothing until you search. The builder works on one suburb-sized area at a time, which is why it opens per area rather than across the whole of Snowy Mountains.

Jindabyne - Berridale area profile

No separate approvals series published
167 applications on record · 192 new addresses since 2021
Build a map

Cooma area profile

No separate approvals series published
79 applications on record · 56 new addresses since 2021
Build a map

Cooma Surrounds area profile

No separate approvals series published
37 applications on record · 97 new addresses since 2021
Build a map

Bombala area profile

No separate approvals series published
19 applications on record · 59 new addresses since 2021
Build a map

Planning Authorities Councils Covering Snowy Mountains

Snowy Mountains spans 2 local government areas — Snowy Monaro Regional and Bega Valley. Applications here are assessed by whichever of those councils the site falls within. AreaSearch publishes development figures at ABS statistical boundaries rather than council boundaries. That is deliberate: the ABS issues a separate official building-approvals series for local government areas, and totals built up from statistical areas would not match it. Reporting at SA3 keeps every figure on this page reconcilable with the published ABS series.
Local government areaShare of Snowy MountainsApplications on recordRegister read to
Snowy Monaro Regional 100% of residents 301 June 2026
Bega Valley 0.0% of residents 1 February 2026

Compare Nearby Development Hubs

The same view of building approvals, applications and major projects for areas neighbouring Snowy Mountains.

Data & Method Sources & Method for Snowy Mountains

The four tenses, and what each one can tell you

Proposed — development applications
Collected from council planning portals. The earliest signal available, but the least certain: many applications are amended, withdrawn or refused, values are the applicant’s own estimate, and coverage varies by council. This is a curated set, not the full council feed: AreaSearch carries applications of material scale and does not track routine minor works such as signage, fencing or small alterations, so the counts here are lower than a council’s own total lodgement figure and should not be compared with it. Applications still shown as under assessment more than 18 months after lodgement are reported separately and kept out of the live-queue figures: the age profile of open applications is sharply split between a genuine queue under a year old and a long tail of records councils never closed. Not every state publishes a cost of works — Queensland, the Northern Territory and the ACT publish none at all — so on those pages applications are counted rather than valued and no dollar figure is shown rather than a partial one. Treated here as a snapshot of the current queue only — AreaSearch does not chart application counts over time, because the history reflects when each portal was collected rather than when development happened.
Approved — ABS building approvals
The official series, aggregated to SA3 from ABS building approvals data, currently published to June 2026. Counts dwelling units approved, not buildings and not completions. The most recent financial year is annualised from nine months of data wherever it appears and is labelled as such.
Building — major projects
Projects tracked individually by AreaSearch from Infrastructure Australia, state infrastructure agencies, developer disclosures and council records. Values are estimates and delivery dates are targets. Ranked on this page by committed value and delivery stage rather than by distance.
Delivered — verified new addresses
New residential addresses verified in the national address register since the 2021 Census. This is the closest available measure of what has actually been built, though address creation can lead occupation and lags construction. It is not a completions count.

Boundaries

Snowy Mountains is Statistical Area Level 3 10103 in the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard (2021 edition), made up of 4 Statistical Areas Level 2. It has an estimated 21,448 residents, +3.5% since the 2021 Census.

Currency

MeasureSourceTo
Dwelling approvals, five-year average ABS / AreaSearch June 2026
House share of approvals ABS / AreaSearch June 2026
Residents per approval ABS / AreaSearch June 2026
Value per approved dwelling ABS / AreaSearch June 2026
Commercial work approved ABS / AreaSearch June 2026
Verified new addresses since the Census Address register / AreaSearch May 2026
Development applications Council planning portals June 2026
Major projects Infrastructure Australia / state agencies / AreaSearch Ongoing

Figures on this page are read live from the AreaSearch database each time it loads, so they update as soon as a source does.

Development in Snowy Mountains — common questions

How many new dwellings were approved in Snowy Mountains?

The ABS recorded 65 dwelling approvals across Snowy Mountains in the 2024-25 financial year, against a five-year average of 97 a year.

How many development applications are lodged in Snowy Mountains?

AreaSearch tracks 302 development applications of material scale across Snowy Mountains — routine minor works such as signage and fencing are not included, so this is not a count of every application lodged, of which 28 remain in assessment. Applications are assessed within the Snowy Monaro Regional and Bega Valley local government areas. The most recent application in our data was lodged in June 2026.

What major projects are planned for Snowy Mountains?

AreaSearch tracks 24 current major projects in Snowy Mountains, 14 of them under construction. The largest include Snowy 2.0 Transmission Connection Project, Snowy 2.0 Pumped Hydro Project and Snowy 2.0.

Which council covers Snowy Mountains?

Snowy Mountains is an ABS Statistical Area Level 3. It is covered by parts of 2 local government areas — Snowy Monaro Regional and Bega Valley. AreaSearch publishes development figures at ABS statistical boundaries rather than council boundaries, so they reconcile with the official ABS series.

Is Snowy Mountains growing faster than the rest of New South Wales?

On development approvals, Snowy Mountains is adding new dwellings more slowly than New South Wales as a whole — 0.31 approvals per 100 existing dwellings a year against the state figure of 0.59.

How current is this development data?

ABS building approvals are published with a lag of roughly four months; this page carries the series to June 2026. Development applications are collected from council planning portals and refresh continuously, with the most recent application here lodged in June 2026. Major project records are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Each section carries its own currency label so the four are never confused.

Development data is provided for general information. Estimated values, dwelling counts and delivery dates come from the lodging or delivering party and are not independently verified by AreaSearch. Confirm anything material with the relevant council or agency before relying on it.