Save Lee Point activists gather at proposed Defence Housing Australia site after major loss

Save Lee Point activist face a ticking clock as a date has been set for land clearing to resume for a controversial Top End housing development.

Protesters have vowed to block bulldozers encroaching on Lee Point, with a mass demonstration trespassing on the controversial development area.

More than 100 Top End residents congregated at Binybara, Lee Point on Sunday evening in protest after an emergency application to save the nature strip was rejected by the federal government.

On Thursday Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek rejected a cultural heritage application by Larrakia Danggalaba Traditional Owners, greenlighting the 800-home Defence Housing Australia development.

Save Lee Point protesters gathered at the Defence Housing Australia site on Sunday March 31.

The decision has angered Traditional Owners, environmentalists and community members and sparked fresh protests at the Northern Suburbs site.

Following Ms Plibersek’s decision DHA said it would “determine the next steps for this development in due course”, however Uprising of the People chief executive Mililma May said land clearing was expected to resume on Monday April 8.

DHA was asked to confirm this date, but a spokeswoman said it “has no further update on Lee Point at this time”.

Advocates say the development site is home to over 260 bird species, around 700 old growth trees — some more than 100 years old — and was a beloved stretch of urban bushland for local residents.

Binybara Camp, who have been running a nine-month permanent protest which has escalated to clashes with police and arrests, said the latest approval had “only galvanised the community further”.

“The time has come for the community to stand up and protect Lee Point from destruction,” a spokeswoman said.

The Binybara Camp representative said the DHA proposal was “deeply unpopular and has no social license”, with thousands of Territorians connected to the Save Lee Point campaign.

“The feeling around Darwin is palpable and unequivocal: we want Lee Point to be saved,” she said.

“We will not let Lee Point be bulldozed.”

Friends of Lee Point spokesman Ian Redmond said the rich biodiverse area was critical to Darwin’s ecosystem and birdlife.

Save Lee Point protesters gathered at the Defence Housing Australia site on Sunday March 31.

“If stage 2 of DHA’s Lee Point housing project goes ahead it will irreversibly break the Lee

Point biodiversity corridor that connects greater Darwin to Casuarina Coastal Reserve the

area proposed to be converted to a national park,” Mr Redmond said.

The Friends of Lee Point group have appealed for Infrastructure Minister Joel Bowden to revoke the development permit.

But on Tuesday Mr Bowden said he would not override the independent decision of the Darwin Development Consent Authority.

Originally published as Save Lee Point activists gather at proposed Defence Housing Australia site after major loss