Western Davenport Farm and Power Infrastructure Study
A consortium of Western Davenport businesses including Fortune Agriculture Pty Ltd (Fortune Agri), Central Land Council (CLC) and Aboriginal Land Economic Development Agency (ALEDA) as members of Northern Territory Farmers Association Incorporation (NT Farmers) has received approval for funding from the Local Jobs Fund (LJF) via a Priority Sector Collaborative Grant. The purpose of the application is to complete studies to establish common user Farm Infrastructure and Power Supply (the project) required in the region.
If the study is successful and meets the needs of the local market, it can potentially crowd in private capital, create jobs, grow the horticulture and agricultural sector and increase export to interstate and abroad resulting in increased revenue to the Territory. It is proposed that the development of this study is undertaken in parallel with the development of the community infrastructure masterplan.
There are shared facilities required on the land to establish farm infrastructure and they include the following:
- cold storage
- packing lines and sheds for horticulture produce
- loading facilities
- shelling plant for peanuts
- specialised machinery workshops
- storage facilities for chemicals, fertiliser and equipment.
The proposed study presented by GHD is to include the following:
- plant and process master plan of the supply chain and engineering of new packing sheds
- power study to assess alternatives for the supply of power to the farms, community, water bores and pipeline pumping stations
- water study around water supply, wastewater and storm water drainage for the farm infrastructure
- traffic management with intersection schematic design of the main road and farm access
- waste management generated from the community and farm processing precinct.
The function of the study is to investigate the following:
- identify the full range and scale of facilities and infrastructure likely to be required for the region (based on proposed developments)
- determine which would be more efficient if 'centrally' located, noting that some facilities can be shared even if not all are co-located
- look at the pros and cons of alternative means of ownership and delivery of the various services
- advise on the planning requirements and approvals that will be needed for this infrastructure
- provide recommendations accordingly.
If the study is successful 2,000 to 3,000 jobs are to be created (includes farm, power and community infrastructure projects).
The gross value pf Production is expected to be $300 million to $400 million by 2030 (combined project).