By PLan correspondent Sonja Pastor
The significant natural, cultural and historical heritage values of the Lee Point headland
The Lee Point headland was already nationally recognised for its significant natural and cultural values in 1991 as part of the Darwin foreshores listing on the Register of the National Estate.
Source:
https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;place_id=16107
In 1996, Native Title Claim DC1996/003 was lodged across the Lee Point coastal area. The claim remained registered until 27 June 2002 and reflected the deep and continuing cultural significance of the Lee Point headland to the Larrakia people, the Traditional Owners of the Darwin region.
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The Lee Point headland also contained Cold War-era Defence radar and communications infrastructure associated with the former 2CRU site Lot 4873.
The following magazine article notes that when former radar personnel revisited the Lee Point site in 2009, substantial remnants of the Cold War radar installation were still standing. The article refers to workshops, two towers, aerial remnants and other radar infrastructure still being present at the site at that time.
Source:
https://radarreturns.net.au/assets/issues/rrvol14no2%20XS.pdf
Most of this infrastructure appears to have been demolished by 2015, the year the Lee Point Area Plan and Planning Principles associated with the Defence Housing Australia master-planned development framework were introduced into the NT Planning Scheme, although remnants of wartime and Cold War Defence structures remain elsewhere in the broader Lee Point area. It is difficult to find evidence of any publicly exhibited heritage assessment, public consultation process or parliamentary scrutiny process specifically relating to demolition of most of this historical Defence infrastructure.
Defence Housing Australia considers major residential expansion in Darwin
2000
DHA planning material from 3 May 2000 shows Defence Housing Australia was considering the Lee Point headland, including 2CRU, the Lee Point caravan park and “other Crown land”, as a possible site for a major housing project.
At that time, Lee Point remained part of the active Darwin foreshores Register of the National Estate listing established in 1991 because of its significant natural and cultural heritage values. Native Title Claim DC1996/003 over the Lee Point coastal area was also still active at that time.
The 3 May 2000 Defence housing planning material identifies multiple possible housing locations in Darwin, including Lee Point, Parap Grove, Carey Street, Palmerston and Defence base land. The DHA recommendation regarding the Lee Point option was “proceed with 400 houses then reassess”.
The material suggests that consideration of Defence estate land in Darwin for major residential expansion was occurring within internal DHA and Defence planning processes as early as , if not before 2000 . These discussions appear not to have included a public consultation process allowing the Darwin community to compare alternative locations for large-scale Defence-related housing expansion, particularly whether the Darwin public supported major residential expansion at the Lee Point headland given its significant natural, cultural and historical heritage values.
In March 2003, months before the later Lee Point Road Project MOU was signed, ABC reporting stated that Defence Housing Australia planned to invest more than $130 million in the NT, including construction of 400 new homes in Darwin. This suggests DHA was already pursuing major expansion in Darwin before the Lee Point Road Project formally emerged publicly.
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During the 26 June 2003 Estimates Committee hearings, Planning Minister Kon Vatskalis stated that Defence Housing Australia wanted to acquire the approximately 68 hectare Lee Point Defence parcel between Tambling Terrace and Lee Point Road directly from the Commonwealth. Although the proposal was publicly framed around approximately 300 Defence houses, the same exchange shows that the project already involved plans for a much larger residential subdivision of about 700 blocks across the site, with DHA intending to acquire only about one third and private developers expected to develop the remainder. The hearings are significant because they show that by mid-2003 the Lee Point proposal was already being structured as a large mixed residential development project led by DHA, rather than simply a limited Defence housing estate.
Source:
26 June 2003 Estimates Committee transcript, PDF pp. 91–95
Memorandum of Understanding signed
On 5 December 2003, the NT Government and Defence Housing Australia entered into a Memorandum of Understanding relating to what was described as the Lee Point Road Project, Darwin. The MOU involved the approximately 68-hectare Lot 9736 / Tracy Village land that was later to become the suburb of Lyons. The document shows that by late 2003 the NT Government and DHA were already working together on subdivision, rezoning, incorporation of development criteria into the NT Planning Scheme, and early design and development involving private sector investors for residential, commercial, recreational and other uses. It also provided for the preparation of an urban master plan prior to rezoning applications being lodged.
The significance of the MOU is that it shows this first Lee Point parcel of land released by Defence and acquired by DHA had already effectively been selected for major residential development linked to a Defence housing project. This occurred before any broader public consultation process allowing the Darwin community to consider whether Lee Point was an appropriate location for residential expansion given its significant heritage values, or to compare alternative sites from the Defence estate .
Source:
https://territorystories.nt.gov.au/10070/344582
The emergence of Lyons as a clearly defined Defence housing project
Lyons was publicly framed as a Defence housing project even though in reality only about 30 per cent of housing was intended to accommodate Defence personnel, with the balance intended for sale to the general public through the DHA commercial development model .
Many Darwin residents appear to have understood Defence Housing Australia as being part of the Defence Department providing housing for Defence families. There appears to have been far less public awareness that DHA was a government land development corporation operating commercially through large-scale residential subdivision and open-market housing sales in partnership with private developers. The Lee Point project was from the onset tied to a commercial development model, with the Commonwealth retaining the financial benefit pathway through commonwealth developer DHA .
This raises a questions about whether the public benefit was a consideration when Defence land was publicly released . Also whether the scale and commercial nature of the profit driven DHA development model was clearly understood by the Darwin public from the beginning.
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The Lyons project began with a planning amendment to rezone the land under the NT Planning Scheme to a Specific Use zone permitting 600 square metre lots rather than the standard 800 square metre lots normally required. This soon became a point of public concern and contributed to tabled petitions at the time. The project did however trigger referral to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works and proceeded through a series of publicly visible planning and parliamentary processes focused on a defined development footprint
Muirhead and the shift to staged development
In 2006, DHA is reported to have “purchased” the Muirhead site, described as surplus for Defence, for a much larger mixed Defence and civilian housing project.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-08-04/dha-snaps-up-muirhead-site/1230860
Muirhead was substantially larger than the earlier Lyons project, both in land area and projected housing scale.
The Lyons project was generally described as about 77 hectares with approximately 650–725 dwellings.
In contrast, the later Muirhead development involved 166 lots in Stage 1 and approximately 930 lots across Stages 2–7 on a site described in Parliamentary Public Works material as approximately 167.6 hectares.
The Lee Point development chronology shows a shift from the more defined Lyons Defence housing project towards a much larger staged suburban expansion model at Muirhead. As this occurred, scrutiny became increasingly distributed across multiple stages, approvals and processes rather than concentrated around one clearly bounded and publicly visible project.
The staging framework made it harder for the Darwin public to assess the cumulative scale of the DHA development at Muirhead as one integrated project. Public concern about the impacts of the DHA development also grew. For example the following petition from residents protesting the clearing of native bushland along Fitzmaurice Drive in Muirhead.
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As already mentioned, Muirhead , in contrast to Lyons, proceeded through staged suburban expansion involving Stage 1 and later Stages 2–7. Rather than being publicly assessed as one integrated project, the development proceeded through multiple separate scrutiny and approval processes over time, including two Parliamentary Public Works referrals, DCA processes, rezoning exhibitions, public meetings and DHA public information forums. The staged framework fragmented public scrutiny and made it more difficult for the Darwin public to assess the cumulative scale and direction of the Muirhead DHA housing development as a whole.
THE 2014 SHIFT
A major shift in the Lee Point Development appears to occur after the CLP Government came to power in August 2012 in the NT.
In March 2014, under the Abbott Government, amendments to the Public Works Committee Regulations expanded exemptions applying to DHA housing works from Parliamentary Public Works Committee scrutiny.
Source:
https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_reg_es/pwcar20132n266o2013534.html
Unlike the earlier Lyons and Muirhead developments, the later Lee Point framework did not proceed through Parliamentary Public Works Committee scrutiny. This meant that a significant layer of parliamentary scrutiny that had applied to earlier DHA suburban developments no longer applied during the expansion of the broader Lee Point master-planned development framework.
A curious feature of the public reporting is that both the 2003 Lyons proposal and the 2006 Muirhead project were described as DHA “purchasing” surplus Defence land. However, by 2014 the language had shifted to the former 2CRU Defence land being “transferred” to DHA. This distinction is significant because DHA itself is a Commonwealth entity and the land involved was already Commonwealth Defence land. The repeated public use of the term “purchase” may therefore have conveyed the impression of an ordinary commercial land acquisition when in substance these arrangements appear closer to administrative transfers within the Commonwealth framework.
Integrated Lee Point master planning before the public amendment process
On 22 October 2014, 7 November 2014 and 12 November 2014, Northern Planning Consultants, acting on behalf of Defence Housing Australia, prepared integrated Area Plans covering both Lot 4873, the former 2CRU Commonwealth Defence land, and Lot 9370, NT Crown land. The plans contained tourism precincts, mixed-use areas, transport corridors, development staging and an integrated master-planned urban expansion structure across the Lee Point headland.
Planning Scheme Amendment Application PA2014/0922 was later lodged on behalf of Defence Housing Australia and publicly exhibited from 20 February 2015 to 20 March 2015. The application sought to introduce Future Development zoning across parts of Lot 4873 while retaining Conservation zoning over other parts of the former 2CRU Defence land, rezone Lot 9370 from SD26 to Future Development, and incorporate the Lee Point Area Plan and Planning Principles into the NT Planning Scheme. Amendment 369 was approved on 13 August 2015 following receipt of 25 public submissions.
Source:
https://nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/205884/amendment-369.pdf
This shows that by the time the formal public planning amendment process occurred in 2015, publicly released Defence land at Lee Point had already become incorporated into a much broader long-term urban expansion framework involving both Commonwealth Defence land and NT Crown land, without any earlier broad public consultation process about whether Lee Point itself was an appropriate location before the broader development framework had already been substantially established
By this point, the Lee Point proposal had expanded well beyond the earlier Lyons and Muirhead Defence housing projects into a much larger integrated master-planned urban expansion framework involving both Commonwealth Defence land and NT Crown land across the Lee Point headland, an area already nationally recognised for significant natural, cultural and historical heritage values.
THE 2015 NOTICE OF INTENT AND RETROSPECTIVE FRAMING OF THE LEE POINT DEVELOPMENT
The Lee Point Notice of Intent (NOI) was submitted to the NT EPA in June 2015, after the public exhibition period for Amendment 369 had closed but before the amendment itself had been formally approved in August 2015.
The NOI identified the planning amendment application, the Lee Point Area Plan and Planning Principles, illustrative master plans and engineering reports as foundational documents underpinning the proposed development. This is significant because it suggests the NOI was relying on a fairly mature and internally developed planning framework rather than presenting an early conceptual proposal.
Importantly, the NOI retrospectively described the earlier 2003 Lee Point Road Project MOU as part of a planning framework anticipating future land release across the Lee Point area. Yet the earlier MOU itself had publicly appeared associated with a more defined Defence housing project centred on Lot 9736 and the later Lyons suburb footprint.
By the time the NOI was submitted, the overall layout and structure of the proposed Lee Point development had already largely been worked out internally, including proposed roads, tourism areas and broader land-use planning across the headland. This is important because it suggests that by mid-2015 the core direction of the Lee Point project had already been substantially settled internally before the Darwin public had any real opportunity to debate whether the Lee Point headland itself, with its significant natural, cultural and historical heritage values, was an appropriate location for this scale of urban expansion.
Source:
https://ntepa.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/284
Formal planning and assessment processes did occur however they largely focused on how development would proceed at Lee Point after the site had already been selected for large-scale urban expansion. It is difficult to identify any earlier broad public consultation process allowing the Darwin community to meaningfully debate whether the Lee Point headland itself, with its significant natural, cultural and historical heritage values, was an appropriate location for this scale of urban development or whether alternative DHA development sites should have been selected instead.
ONGOING PUBLIC OPPOSITION TO THE LEE POINT DEVELOPMENT
Public opposition to the Lee Point development has continued for many years and has extended well beyond ordinary planning objections. Since 2020, opposition has included organised community campaigns, presentations to City of Darwin, council motions, petitions to both the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and the Commonwealth Parliament, direct protest action, legal challenges, cultural heritage applications by Traditional Owners and ongoing media scrutiny.
Friends of Lee Point was formed on 25 July 2020 in response to concerns about the environmental and cultural impacts of the development.
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In October 2021, Friends of Lee Point formally presented concerns to City of Darwin regarding the Lee Point development. At the same meeting, City of Darwin carried a motion calling on the Northern Territory Government to place a moratorium on the development until a comprehensive area plan reflecting the long-term wishes and needs of the community had been prepared.
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In October 2022, Petition 19 was presented to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly calling for a moratorium on the current housing development proposal at Lee Point. The official petition recorded 2,138 signatures.
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Opposition later expanded into cultural heritage and environmental legal action. In July 2023, Larrakia Danggalaba Traditional Custodians made an emergency federal cultural heritage application to Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek seeking protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage at Lee Point/Binybara. Defence Housing Australia later paused works while the application was assessed.
Sources:
https://envirojustice.org.au/legal-work/first-nations-justice/binybara-lee-point
Public protest intensified again in 2024 after land clearing resumed at the site. Protesters were arrested after bulldozers returned to Lee Point and further controversy followed when Defence Housing Australia paused works pending review of allegations that clearing had occurred without required approvals. In May 2024, the Northern Land Council publicly supported calls for an independent inquiry into the development and the alleged unlawful clearing.
Sources:
https://www.nlc.org.au/the-nlc-back-larrakia-on-independent-inquiry-into-binybara-lee-point
In July 2024, a petition concerning the Lee Point / Binybara development was tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament by Senator Lidia Thorpe. Hansard confirms the petition was tabled, while media reporting stated that the petition contained more than 16,000 signatures.
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In May 2025, Defence Housing Australia was fined by the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water for unlawful land clearing at Lee Point.
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In June 2025, NTCAT ordered that no further land clearing occur while a legal challenge brought by Senior Larrakia Danggalaba Elder and Traditional Owner Tibby Quall was being heard.
Source:
https://envirojustice.org.au/legal-win-halts-lee-point-land-clearing
28 April 2026
City of Darwin passed a motion requesting the Commonwealth Government consider a Senate inquiry into the DHA Lee Point project and pause clearing works while the inquiry was undertaken. The motion, moved by Councillor Julie Fraser, stated that a Senate inquiry would provide “much needed scrutiny” of the project and allow the Darwin community “to have their say”. The supporting material accompanying the motion stated that no government report was publicly available justifying Lee Point over alternative Defence housing sites in Darwin. The motion was carried 7–5.
City of Darwin Ordinary Council Meeting Minutes:
City of Darwin Council Agenda:
PLan summary of the motion:
Council media summary:
The scale and persistence of public opposition to the Lee Point project points to broader unresolved concerns within the Darwin community about transparency, public consultation, environmental protection and cultural heritage impacts associated with the Lee Point development process.
The Lee Point development process reflects broader systemic issues concerning transparency, parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation when publicly released Defence land containing significant natural, cultural and historical heritage values is incorporated into large-scale urban expansion through Defence Housing Australia’s commercial development framework.