Early this morning, bulldozers arrived at Binybara / Lee Point and began clearing old-growth trees as the development of defence housing in the area was restarted after a ten-month pause. The bulldozers were met by local protestors of the Save Lee Point campaign, as security and mounted police guarded the entry. 

 

A large section of the Lee Point bushland, which has some of Darwin’s oldest trees and more species of birds than Kakadu National Park, has already been felled, despite the construction area not being sufficiently cleared of the general public.

 

 

Multiple community members were escorted out of the boundary of the construction area while bulldozers were active, as the perimeter was not completely sealed from all access points, some of which adjoin Casuarina Coastal Reserve, the Territory’s most visited park. There are also reports that some protestors have locked onto the machinery inside the construction area and multiple arrests have been made.

Protestors fear for the safety of animals within the construction site, as staff couldn’t answer whether there was a fauna spotter on-site checking trees for animals before the bulldozers made their way through.

In recent weeks, multiple federal senators, including Sarah Hanson-Young, David Pocock, and Lydia Thorpe, visited Lee Point and expressed their concern for the area’s development. No Territorian ministers or senators have yet voiced their concerns for the development, despite ongoing opposition from Traditional Owners, environmentalists, and the Darwin public. 

Territory Chief Minister, Eva Lawler, told ABC Radio Darwin this morning, that despite community opposition to the clearing, the Territory Labor Government was in full support of the Lee Point development and it would be going ahead.

 

What’s the problem?

Binybara / Lee Point is a stretch of old-growth savanna woodland in the northern suburbs of Darwin that connects Casuarina Coastal Reserve (soon to be national park), the Northern Territory’s most visited park, with Shoal Bay Coastal Reserve. This 27km stretch of bushland is the last wildlife corridor in Darwin and the hollows present in the old-growth trees are essential habitat, especially for the many species of birds found there.

In 2019, Binybara / Lee Point was earmarked as a new defence housing suburb, with plans to bulldoze over 100 hectares of savanna woodland for the development.

Darwin’s Traditional Owners, the Larrakia people, were not consulted on the plan and are adamantly against the development. Alongside environmentalists, birdwatchers, and locals, the Larrakia have been fighting to save Binybara / Lee Point for years.

Read more: Lee Point Camp in Darwin is a Place of Decolonial Climate Activism

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