After a saga spanning five decades, a parcel of prime real estate on the New South Wales north coast is finally ready for the hungry housing market.

The 900-hectare Kings Forest Estate has been mired in controversy, foreign ownership, court action, and accusations of "land banking".

Tweed Shire Council general manager Troy Green said he was relieved.

"We are excited to announce the first 148 lots, but yes, this has been some 30-plus years to get to this point," he said.

The large tract of former farming land, just south of Kingscliff, was rezoned in the 1980s to allow residential development.

It was owned by a Japanese company in the 1990s, embroiled in various court cases throughout the 2000s, and received final concept-plan approval by the New South Wales government in 2010.

This 1962 photo of the site shows how sparsely populated the area was and reveals the scars of sand mining. (Supplied: Tweed Shire Council)

Development company Stockland bought the site in August from Leda Holdings for a reported $620 million.

Project director Alex Koerber said in a statement that the development would be critical to boosting housing supply in the region and would add infrastructure, including schools, a commercial centre and sports fields.

Land banking

Mr Green said the Kings Forest development was a classic case of land banking.

"There are multiple examples of land that has been land banked around the state and the country," he said.

"The government needs to do further reforms to the planning system to put some carrots and sticks in place for when land is rezoned to get the land brought to the market.

"At the moment, it's all gain. Once you get land rezoned, there's no requirement to bring that to the market in a certain timeframe."

Former Tweed mayor and Tweed Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Warren Polglase, said the development changed hands several times, with all parties making money along the way.

"The Japanese bought it at a reasonable price, they sold it on and made a profit," he said.

"The next group sold it on and made a profit, then LEDA came along and they have done well out of it too.

"So overall, the winners have been those who have been part of the process to get where it is today."

Housing pressures

Mr Polglase said delays put extra pressure on the housing market. 

"If you look at Salt and Casuarina Estates [on the Tweed Coast], blocks were selling for $700,000. Now there's no vacant land and houses sell for $3–5 million," he said.