New Orchard Hills defence facility will create more than 50 jobs
Defence Establishment Orchard Hills is the beneficiary of a $95 million announcement by Lindsay federal Liberal MP Melissa McIntosh.
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It is the armed forces base shrouded in mystery, but the Federal Government has announced Defence Establishment Orchard Hills will be transformed in a $95 million redevelopment to house and maintain Australia’s naval missile stockpile.
The facility, announced this morning by Lindsay federal Liberal MP Melissa McIntosh, will be built at the Defence Establishment Orchard Hills on The Northern Rd, and will create more than 50 jobs.
Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said Watpac had been awarded the contract, and construction is expected to begin within a week.
Defence Force Australia’s deputy director for navy missile maintenance, Brad Thomas, said the announcement was five-and-a-half years in the making.
“It’s been a long time coming from our point of view, so it’s great to see,” he said.
“The facility will be a naval guided weapons inventory for new ships, Air Warfare Destroyers, frigates, and future submarines.
“There’s a lot of additional capability coming in, so a lot of additional room is needed for a bigger inventory.
“We’re also opening up an additional 18 full-time positions at Orchard Hills.”
Aurecon project manager and contract administrator, Greg Chronopoulos, said the facility was originally planned to be spread over two sites.
“The navy made the decision in 2016 to have it here in Orchard Hills,” he said.
“We have a workforce here this is highly-trained and competent, and it’s more efficient to process the weapons here.”
Mr Chronopoulos said the project should be completed in 2021.
“It’s a 17-month construction program,” he said.
“We’ve awarded the contract, and we’re expecting activities to start over the next week or so.
“We’re expecting the amount of people working on site to spike to 100 during the high point of the project, but we’re estimating an average of 50 additional people per day for the duration of the build.
“The local industry participation is expected to be 95 per cent.”