Darwin development raises protests

Darwin development raises protests

By Adriaan Anarco-Troika

DARWIN — A controversial development of the city's shoreline has been given the go-ahead by the NT government. The proposed development at Cullen Bay, estimated to cost $120 million, includes luxury habourside homes and villas, condominiums, a ferry terminal and resort hotel.

After six years of public debate on the environmental and social impacts of the project, lands minister Max Ortmann said a number of steps would now have to be taken before work could begin, including the approval of a development lease for the land.

A spokesperson for the NT Environment Centre, Richard Whitling, said the government has now cleared the way for an onslaught of unnecessary and undesirable coastal development.

"The CLP government is a long way behind the rest of Australia in the development of land use planning and environmental planning. Mr Ortmann and the CLP cabinet have allowed the Cullen Bay developer to call the tune because of pie-in-the-sky benefits to the community."

From GLW issue 5