The Court of Appeal's judgement overturns the decision of the NSW Land and Environment Court, which held that the Major Development SEPP amendment that had the effect of rezoning the Huntlee land was invalid.

The successful appeal upholds Huntlee's State Significant Site rezoning and the project will now progress to the next stage.

This includes progressing the assessment of Huntlee's Project Application for the first stage of the project.

The $1.5 billion development represents the first new town in the Hunter for almost 50 years and will provide up to 7,500 homes, 3,000 permanent jobs and 200ha of employment lands.