Defence Housing Australia tender for construction of five homes after $18k illegal clearing fine
Defence Housing Australia has released a tender to build five new homes at Lee Point not long after being fined for illegally clearing bushland in Darwin’s northern suburbs.
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Defence Housing Australia has released a tender to build five new homes at Lee Point not long after being fined for illegally clearing bushland in Darwin’s northern suburbs.
On Tuesday Defence Housing Australia confirmed the tenders for the stage of the Lee Point development were being prepared, a month after the developer was hit with a $18,780 fine after it illegally bulldozed bushland at Binybara.
In April the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water handed down the fine after an investigation confirmed illegal clearing occurred outside the approved stages.
The penalty comes a year after Save Lee Point protesters clashed with construction workers and police for three days while attempting to stall the controversial 800-home development in May 2024.
Footage obtained by the NT News showed that the bulldozers cleared more than six hectares outside the approved zones.
DHA said the infringement was as a result of “ clearing a small area” that was in compliance with its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act conditions at the time.
“DHA takes compliance matters seriously and is committed to ensuring strict adherence with approvals across all development projects,” a spokesman said.
Despite the Federal investigation stalling the project for 11-months, Larrakia leaders, environment and community groups opposing the project have criticised the fine as a ‘slap on the wrist’ for the project.
“This is one of Australia’s most controversial housing projects, yet was able to breach the conditions of its environmental approval and destroy threatened species habitat at Lee Point,” Australian Conservation Foundation lead investigator Annica Schoo claimed.
“This is another reminder that Australia’s national nature laws are broken and need urgent attention from federal Environment Minister Murray Watt.”
However, DHA has maintained that the Infringement Notice did not affect the validity of its environmental approvals for the Lee Point development.
Last Monday the developer announced a tender for the “design and construction” of five homes in Stage 1A of the already developed area in the Muirhead North subdivision of Lee Point.
In the decade since the Lee Point Area Plan was developed by the NT Government no homes have been built on the site, with DHA claiming the 800-home project would be completed by 2033.
Earlier this month DHA senior management visited Darwin saying it intended to start civil works for stages two and three in “the coming months”.
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