A large residential development in the northwest part of Swift Current is moving towards becoming a reality.

At city council Monday evening a concept plan for the Heights Neighbourhood was put forth and received unanimous approval from Swift Current council members.

Early estimates for the development's population are in the neighbourhood of 1,500, something Michael Ruus, general manager of planning and growth development with the City of Swift Current, said would be a nice addition to the city.

"It would be fantastic to see our community continue to grow," Ruus stated. "This is the second private developer that has come in and wanted to take on a large project of this size, so I know our team is very excited to see them move forward."

After the approval Monday night, CMR Corporation (the private developer) will move onto the engineering approvals and then begin construction on the project that features a variety of dwellings.

"We always like to see a mix and range of housing types and land uses," he explained. "It's consistent with our current development plan and it helps to create those interesting neighbourhood that everyone wants to live in."

The area comprises 64.62 hectares (ha), including 28.41 ha of environmental reserve area and 36.21 ha of the gross development area. Within the development portion, the majority of it is zoned for low density (21 ha), medium density will cover 1.87 ha, and high density represents 1.79 ha. The three other large parts of the land encompass roads (8.11 ha), parks and open spaces (2.11 ha), and a swing site area (1.33 ha) that has the flexibility to become medium or high density or commercial development.

"From my perspective what makes this neighbourhood very unique in our community is the access to the natural area just south of the development area," Ruus said. "That in addition to the mix and range of housing and densities, I think will make it a really neat neighbourhood."

Ruus added that it will be up to the developer to decide when they want to put the properties up for sale, but he expects construction to begin sometime in 2020.

Heights Development Plan (courtesy of the City of Swift Current)