‘It’s now about ensuring that we have sustainable development’: Govt urged to grant licence

THE peak body representing Territory farmers say “the science has been done” and the company wanting to develop a $150m horticulture farm should be granted the water licence it needed

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THE peak body representing Northern Territory farmers say “the science has been done” and the company wanting to develop a $150m, 3500ha irrigated horticulture farm on Singleton Station south of Tennant Creek should be granted the water licence it needed.

NT Farmers Association chief executive officer Paul Burke said calls on the Northern Territory’s water controller not to approve the 40,000 megalitre-a-year water license application to Fortune Agribusiness were an unnecessary delay to the project.

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Central Land Council executive member Michael Liddle, who is an NT Farmers Association board member, said the organisation was concerned about the lack of scientific data on groundwater availability for the Singleton cattle station project.

Singleton Station sits in the Western Davenport water control district.

“We’re concerned how such a massive and unprecedented proposal would affect the water our people, animals and plants are relying on for their long-term survival,” he said.

“We want the government to collect data to verify its assumptions and modelling about how much water is really underground and test the impact of irrigation on groundwater dependent ecosystems and cultural sites before allowing this proposal to go ahead.”

Environment and Water Security Minister Eva Lawler said the NT government had delivered a water allocation plan for the Western Davenport area and the Singleton Station application was being assessed and the Controller of Water Resources would make a decision in due course.

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Mr Burke said significant work had gone into the development of the Western Davenport water plan and the water applied for was available under that water plan.

“The science has been done, the water advisory committee that worked in that area ratified that plan, so now it’s about getting that water flowing.

“It’s now about ensuring that we have sustainable development and the NT Farmers Association supports this development.”