Here are are the recent posts.
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Membership & Donations
Read more: Membership & DonationsPLan is an incorporated voluntary organization working towards a better living environment. Our Financial year is from 1 July to 30 June each year. Membership is only $25 per year. 2025 year now open – renew or join now and receive membership to the middle of year 2026. Donations are always welcome if you…
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2024 05 Esplanade Statement of Heritage Value
Read more: 2024 05 Esplanade Statement of Heritage ValueUpdate 18/12/2024 Department of Lands, Planning and Environment Heritage Council speaks to the Supreme Court decision on the Darwin Esplanade 17 December 2024 Background On 3 December 2021 the Heritage Council accepted a nomination from a member of the public for the Darwin Esplanade to be a protected heritage place under the Heritage Act 2011.…
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2024 07 Strategic Directions Planning Policy
Read more: 2024 07 Strategic Directions Planning PolicyThis submission closes 31 July 2024. https://haveyoursay.nt.gov.au/strategic-directions-planning-policy At this stage we have yet to engage with this process, please return to this web site in the future. StrategicDirections download the pdf.
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Landfill and Contamination Legacy of the Kulaluk–Minmarama Lands
Read more: Landfill and Contamination Legacy of the Kulaluk–Minmarama LandsA Legacy of Dumping Parts of the Minmarama lease were used as Darwin’s municipal dump, expanded after Cyclone Tracy in 1974. Byrne Consultants (2023) confirm that uncontrolled waste and fill were placed across the lands, leaving a legacy of contamination that still requires assessment before development can safely proceed. In 2021, the NT Environment Department…
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Environmental Significance of the Kulaluk–Minmarama Lands
Read more: Environmental Significance of the Kulaluk–Minmarama LandsLudmilla Creek: Darwin’s Last Living Creek System Most of Darwin’s mid-suburb waterways have been channelised and degraded into stormwater drains, but Ludmilla Creek is different — it is still a living tidal system. Mangroves line its banks, fish and birdlife depend on it, and people still fish and crab here. Ludmilla creek is last remaining…
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Tudawali Park Public Meeting
Read more: Tudawali Park Public MeetingPublic meeting on Kulaluk, 27th September 4:30pm at Tudawali Park – 7 Tudawali St, Ludmilla NT 0820 Download the flyer here: Kulaluk–Minmarama: Ostermann Street Update Recent correspondence and site observations have raised new issues at the Ostermann Street boundary of Kulaluk. These matters add to concerns already identified in PLan’s earlier article on the Kulaluk…
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YWCA Rezoning Proposal Raises Questions About Specific Use Zones
Read more: YWCA Rezoning Proposal Raises Questions About Specific Use ZonesThe YWCA has lodged a Planning Scheme Amendment to rezone its land at 121 Mitchell Street and 12 Doctors Gully Road, Larrakeyah. Listed as Planning Application PA2025/0283, the proposal is on public exhibition from 5 September until 3 October 2025.The land is currently zoned Low–Medium Density Residential (LMR). The amendment seeks to place it in…
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Fast Tracking Change
Read more: Fast Tracking ChangeA Fast-Track Planning System at the Expense of DemocracyOn 27 August 2025, the Minister for Lands, Planning and Environment issued a declaration under section 11(3) of the Planning Act 1999, exempting certain classes of planning scheme amendments from public exhibition. The declaration is here: Declaration under section 11(3) – Class of Amendments (PDF): https://nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1555394/declaration-under-section-11-3-of-the-planning-act-1999-class-of-amendments.pdfThe declaration…
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Why the Harry Chan Site Should Be Heritage Listed
Read more: Why the Harry Chan Site Should Be Heritage ListedDarwin once had a thriving Chinatown, centred on Cavenagh and Bennett Streets, stretching across to what is now Civic Park and the Harry Chan site. From the late 19th century, Chinese migrants ran stores, boarding houses, herbalists’ shops, cafés, and gardens here. Chinatown was both an economic hub and a cultural heart for Darwin’s Chinese…
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Candidates win right to ‘reasonably canvass’ without fines after Supreme Court battle against City of Darwin, NT Electoral Commission
Read more: Candidates win right to ‘reasonably canvass’ without fines after Supreme Court battle against City of Darwin, NT Electoral CommissionFrom NT News 22/8/25 Candidates can no longer be fined for “reasonably canvassing” during early voting, following a legal stoush with the City of Darwin and the Northern Territory Electoral Commission. The breakthrough came during a Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday, after legal action was launched by lord mayoral hopeful Leah Potter. It was backed…
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Legal action filed against Darwin Council over new civic centre
Read more: Legal action filed against Darwin Council over new civic centreFrom NT Independent article: https://ntindependent.com.au/legal-action-filed-against-darwin-council-over-proposed-civic-centre/ A Federal Court application has been lodged seeking to force Darwin Council to hand over documents relating to the deal it struck with developer DCOH to build the controversial 21-storey civic centre-private office tower, along with details of how it is using ratepayer money on the project. An originating application…
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Asti Motel site is back – 2025
Read more: Asti Motel site is back – 2025Public Submission: PA2025/0247 – Amendments to DP24/0010 Closing Midnight Friday, 12 September 2025 To: Development Assessment ServicesSubject: Public Submission on PA2025/0247 – Objection due to Outdated Supporting MaterialWe respectfully submit this correspondence as a formal public submission regarding PA2025/0247, amending development permit DP24/0010. 1. Fragmented and Outdated Documentation The applicant relies heavily on supplementary content…
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Darwin Council hid costings for two alternative civic centre designs from public
Read more: Darwin Council hid costings for two alternative civic centre designs from publicNT Independent by David Wood | Aug 13, 2025 | Business, News, Costings for two different versions of the new Darwin Council civic centre were given to council but never made public in the months before it put out an expression of interest for the building, that led to a partnership with developer DCOH to build the controversial 21-story hybrid civic…