Split site possible for army training
THE Singapore Defence Deal training area could be split into two North Queensland locations if enough land could not be acquired for one site.
Defence Department first assistant secretary infrastructure Chris Birrer said it was a possibility if not enough willing landholders sold in the Greenvale area.
“It’s one of the issues we’re considering. As we engage with landowners they let us know how they’re thinking it is going, whether or not they’re a willing seller,” he said.
“It’s doing an analysis of the type of country, the terrain and what sort of training outcomes can be achieved.”
The search for suitable land to establish a new training area near Greenvale is part of the $ 2.25 billion Australia-Singapore Military Training Initiative, due to start in 2019.
The Defence Department plan is to construct two training areas in North and Central Queensland that will host more than 14,000 Singaporean troops.
Mr Birrer said regional communities could expect a significant injection of money into local economies once construction was under way.
“We’ll see during the construction phase in particular up to $ 300 million a year being spent in Queensland so there’s lots of opportunities there for local businesses both during the construction phase and also during ongoing support maintenance and operations of the training area,” he said.
“As part of the Australian Government’s commitment to ensuring that local communities benefit from Defence, Senator Marise Payne has been very engaged in local communities and has announced that the local industries capability plan will apply to the construction contracting for the new training area.
“We see lots of opportunity throughout the whole life of the initiative from construction through to ongoing support operations for local communities.”
A source, who wished to remain unnamed, said a number of Greenvale landholders in negotiations with Defence were dissatisfied with the offers made for their land.
Mr Birrer said the department was having “open and frank” discussions surrounding property purchase.
“We’ve committed to work- ing with them throughout the rest of this year in coming to some sort of conclusion,” he said.
Mr Birrer said the department was not ready to reveal how many offers had been made or how many properties had been purchased.
The deal initially sparked anger among landholders when the Federal Government revealed plans to compulsorily acquire grazing land near High Range in Townsville, without any prior consultation. Protests from farmers led to a backdown last year from Ms Payne, who committed to only acquiring land voluntarily from willing sellers.