Lloyd Creek: Intrapac briefs Litchfield councillors on revamped rural village project
A new 4000+ home rural village project is set to become an election issue in coming months. Read what’s proposed.
Northern Territory
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The developer of a proposed 4200 home residential development in Darwin’s rural area has met with Litchfield Council to make their case for the project to go ahead.
Intrapac Property chief executive Max Shifman, land owner Laurence Ah Toy and architect Gerard Rosse from Cunnington Rosse Town Planning spoke with all seven Litchfield councillors last Tuesday to present plans for the proposed Lloyd Creek development.
Lloyd Creek is an ambitious, multi-decade project located about 7km from Humpty Doo, bordered by Redcliff, Townend and Mocatto roads.
Intrapac last month lodged amendments to the NT Planning Scheme for approval of the Lloyd Creek Rural Village Area Plan.
Submissions close on Friday, May 16.
In 2019 Intrapac unsuccessfully lodged applications to build the so-called Noonamah Ridge development which, after an extensive public consultation process, was eventually blocked by the Territory Government because of issues around water supply.
The original proposal was for the Noonamah Ridge development’s first stage to access bore water, with subsequent stages connected to town water.
Now rebranded Lloyd Creek, Mr Shifman said the entire project would be connected to the new Strauss Water Treatment Plant, which is expected to be completed in 2026.
“Development in the rural area over the past 30 or 40 years has underdone the rural area in many ways because it hasn’t provided for that long view on infrastructure amenity,” Mr Shifman said.
“I think there was an understanding at the meeting of this longer term planning for something that will take a long time to roll out.
“This is meant to be a long-term investment for everyone and I think the councillors see the potential benefits of partnering with the council to deliver great results.
“This was a genuine interaction about how this plays in the future.”
Litchfield Council Mayor Doug Barden said the presentation was “informative”, addressed issues around reticulated water and confirmed the smallest block size would be 1000sq m.
He said he was satisfied that the smallest block sizes would be 1000sq m and said a report and recommendations would most likely be presented to council at the June meeting.
The proposal would most likely become an issue at the upcoming Northern Territory municipal elections.
“Council has elections in August so we’ve only got three more meetings before caretaker mode. The report will be done by then and it will then be up to the councillors to give their opinion so the public then knows where everybody stands.”
The area plan submission lodged with DCA last month shows Lloyd Creek has a local village centre, a community centre, schools, retail facilities, parks and an open space network including a 500-acre conservation zone, walking trails, bush walks and a horse arena.
Homes would be designed to integrate with tropical surroundings and feature wastewater recycling capabilities. Intrapac estimates the total investment value could be up to $5 billion across 30 years, with more than 300 full-time jobs.
Originally published as Lloyd Creek: Intrapac briefs Litchfield councillors on revamped rural village project
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