July 31 - Draft Report for 3 Darwin Sites - Summary

The below “Summary” is an excerpt from the Preliminary evaluation of three Darwin sites for defence and community housing – Draft Report.

The (29 page) Draft Report was sent to the Australian Government late July 2025 by (8) stakeholders; Environment Centre of the NT (ECNT), Larrakia – Danggalaba Traditional Owners, NT Landcare, Birdlife Top End, NT Field Naturalists, PLan – Planning Action Network, Biodiversity Watch and Friends of Lee Point.

The stakeholders called for the Lee Point defence housing project to be relocated to a suitable site and advised that the final report will be available October 2025.

Location of defence bases in relation to Darwin CBD, Palmerston CBD, Northcrest, Holtze and Lee Point sites, main water source, power station and key roads.

Summary (from Draft Report)

Australia (and Darwin) is suffering from a lack of affordable houses/dwellings and a wildlife extinction crisis.

The taxpayer is currently underwriting a $400M defence and community housing project at Lee Point, Darwin. To date, this project has produced high-cost lots and no affordable housing. In addition to being an unproductive use of taxpayer money, it will have a significant impact on natural and cultural heritage.

No report is available that investigates other housing sites/options. This has prompted concerned community groups to undertake an evaluation of other sites/options for consideration by the Australian Government.

This evaluation, while guided by sustainability principles from Infrastructure Australia, has been simplified due to limited time and resources. It compares three Darwin sites – Berrimah (Northcrest), Holtze and Lee Point, and briefly lists other options.

Findings to date are summarised in the table below.

Rating table – three Darwin sites for defence and community housing

ASPECT	Berrimah	Holtze	Lee Point	Comments (for more detail refer to Appendices)
Social
Affordable housing	Fair?	Good	Very Poor	Berrimah and Holtze are well located for affordable housing. Lee Point is not well located, has expensive lots and no affordable housing.
Community wellbeing	Good	Good	Poor	Berrimah and Holtze are close to frequent public transport and near defence bases and parks. Lee Point project adversely impacts on community’s enjoyment of Lee Point plus has problems of traffic congestion, school location, biting insects, sewage odours.
Cultural heritage	?	?	Very Poor	Berrimah and Holtze is still being assessed. The Lee Point project is strongly opposed to by the Larrakia people (traditional owners) of Darwin.
Environmental
Natural heritage	Very Good?	Fair?	Very Poor	Berrimah has no clearing impact. Holtze clears habitat but retains some connecting habitat. The Lee Point project clears over half the old-growth trees from Lee Point significantly impacting on Darwin’s last wildlife corridor (Darwin’s biodiversity), and threatens endangered species.
Carbon emissions	Very Good	Fair	Very Poor	Lee Point results in increased car travel (emissions) for defence personnel. Also see Natural heritage above.
Economic
Cost of Living	Good?	Good	Poor	Berrimah and Holtze are well located for affordable housing, public transport and near Darwin’s main defence base. Lee Point is not, resulting in increased travel costs and possibly a second car. Lee Point high-cost lots excludes low to middle income people access to the government’s “help to buy” scheme.
Cost effectiveness	Fair	Good	Poor	Berrimah is privately owned, Holtze mostly government owned and Lee Point government owned. Berrimah and Holtze are well located to main infrastructure and frequent public transport services. Lee Point is at the end of the water, electricity, road grid, and likely to trigger significant upgrades in the grid.
Opportunities for business	Fair	Fair	Poor	Berrimah and Holtze are located near CBDs that may help stimulate CBD growth. The Lee Point project reduces potential eco-tourism opportunities from nature and cultural activities at Lee Point.
Governance
Community engagement	Fair	Good	Very Poor	Berrimah and Holtze Area Plans were created independently and Lee Point Area Plan was created by the developer (DHA). For Lee Point, most Darwin residents did not know about housing at Lee Point prior to 2020 and are now opposed to it. Larrakia (traditional owners of Darwin) want the housing to go elsewhere. City of Darwin have called for the Lee Point Area Plan to be independently and comprehensively redone.

Further information on this project is at: Proposed prelim report on 3 Darwin sites

Summary (from Draft Report)

(for more detail refer to Appendices)

Berrimah and Holtze are well located for affordable housing. Lee Point is not well located, has expensive lots and no affordable housing.

Berrimah and Holtze are close to frequent public transport and near defence bases and parks. Lee Point project adversely impacts on community’s enjoyment of Lee Point plus has problems of traffic congestion, school location, biting insects, sewage odours.

Berrimah and Holtze is still being assessed. The Lee Point project is strongly opposed to by the Larrakia people (traditional owners) of Darwin.

Berrimah has no clearing impact. Holtze clears habitat but retains some connecting habitat. The Lee Point project clears over half the old-growth trees from Lee Point significantly impacting on Darwin’s last wildlife corridor (Darwin’s biodiversity), and threatens endangered species.

Lee Point results in increased car travel (emissions) for defence personnel. Also see Natural heritage above.

Berrimah and Holtze are located near CBDs that may help stimulate CBD growth. The Lee Point project reduces potential eco-tourism opportunities from nature and cultural activities at Lee Point.