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Lee Point, Northern Territory

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Coordinates: 12°20′22″S 130°53′35″E / 12.33944°S 130.89306°E / -12.33944; 130.89306
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Lee Point
Darwin, Northern Territory
Lee Point, Darwin
Lee Point is located in Darwin, Australia
Lee Point
Lee Point
Map
Coordinates12°20′22″S 130°53′35″E / 12.33944°S 130.89306°E / -12.33944; 130.89306
Population94 (2016 census)[1]
 • Density3.032/km2 (7.85/sq mi)
Established1869
Postcode(s)0810
Area31.0 km2 (12.0 sq mi)
Location18 km (11 mi) from Darwin City
LGA(s)City of Darwin
Territory electorate(s)Casuarina
Federal division(s)Solomon

Lee Point refers to a coastal point north of the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

History

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It is on the traditional Country and waterways of the Larrakia people.[2] The area is known to the Larrakia people as Binybara,[3] and has been described as 'sacred... a living and breathing archive".[4]

The name is derived from the point, "Lee Point" which appears on George Goyder's 1869 Plan of Port Darwin which likely dates back to Stokes' examination of the harbour in 1839.[5]

It is also forms the northern point of the Casuarina Coastal Reserve, featuring a recreational area and nearby hotel and caravan park.

There are a number of World War II heritage sites in the area. Along the cycle path which runs from Lee Point to Brinkin is a preserved bunker built between 1939 and 1941 as part of Australia's coastal defence strategy.[6]

Biodiversity

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Red-capped plover, native species, Lee Point. Least concern.

Lee Point forms part of a largely undeveloped 27 kilometre coastal monsoon forrest corridor that runs from Casuarina Coastal Reserve to Shoal Bay Coastal Reserve, and includes Buffalo Creek and Sandy Creek. It features sandy beaches, tidal flats, estuaries, dune systems, mangrove communities, Casuarina forests, old growth trees, monsoon forests and an offshore marine area.[7] It is the last remaining biodiversity corridor that connects the Darwin savanna woodland to the broader ecosystem across northern Australia.[8] Studies have found this tropical savanna ecosystem is highly vulnerable to climate change and meets the criteria of collapsing.[9] Lee Point and Buffalo Creek form part of the internationally significant Shoal Bay Key Biodiversity Area, which was declared based on records of the Critically Endangered Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris).[10] Lee Point and Sandy Creek beaches are connected ecosystems and used by migratory shorebirds in the network of sites so birds can move between low tide and high tide.[11]

An internationally-significant site for migratory shorebirds, the reserve supports up to 10,000 shorebirds from over 25 species including the critically-endangered Far Eastern Curlew as well as the whimbrel, bar-tailed godwit, black-tailed godwit, great knot, red knot, greater sand plover, lesser sand plover, sanderling, red-necked stint and ruddy turnstone.[12]

Greater sand plover, Lee Point. Migratory species from Siberia. Least concern.
Bar tailed godwits, Lee Point. Migratory species from Alaska, Endangered.

Many species of rare vagrant birds have been recorded at Lee Point and Buffalo Creek beaches, including Black-backed Gull, Black-tailed Gull, Kentish Plover, Christmas Island Frigatebird and others.[13] Several species of migratory shorebird have suffered chronic levels of anthropogenic disturbances along Lee Point beach, and these disturbances cause the shorebirds to fly away from humans and humans and dogs, which causes unnecessary use of energy resources.[14]

Bar tailed godwits, Lee Point
Bar tailed godwits, non breeding plumage, Lee Point
Far eastern curlew, feeds on soldier crabs, Lee Point. Migratory species from Russia and China. Critically Endangered.

Many waterbird species have also been recorded at Lee Point beach, including 200 Radjah Shelduck in 2014, as well as Pied Cormorant, Pied Heron, Little Egret, Little Tern.[15] The migratory tern species Common Gull-billed Tern as well as the resident-breeding Australian Tern have also been recorded at Lee Point beach.[16]

Lee Point is also a significant habitat site for the endangered Gouldian finch.[17]

It is also home to the endangered black-footed tree rat and northern brown bandicoot.[18] Flatback turtles nest along Sandy Creek beach and Lee Point beach. There are regular sightings of saltwater crocodiles in Buffalo Creek.[13]

Juvenile Black-Necked Stork
Striated heron, Lee Point
Turtle nest, Lee Point

Development

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Community members protest Defence Housing project at Lee Point/Binybara, Darwin.

The area has been long defended by environmental and Indigenous communities.[19]

Lee Point is the location for a controversial multi-million-dollar Defence Housing Australia housing project, approved in 2019.[17] It includes 800 houses built across 131 hectares of zoned residential land. The development has caused community concern about the project's environmental and cultural impacts.[20] In 2016, it was deemed that the proposed urban development would have the potential to impact migratory shorebirds through increased human access to the important roosting and feeding site Sandy Creek, on the northern beaches of Darwin.[21]

Federal approval of the project was halted in 2022[22] upon increased sightings of the rebounding Gouldian Finch population.[23] The land clearing is particularly considered a threat to finch population as they lay their eggs in tree hollows.[4] Original approval conditions were changed to include a four hectare wildlife corridor around their habitat area.[24] Campaigning to prevent clearing continued, and upon commencement of land clearing there were community protests which saw 11 arrests.[25] While Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation initially supported the project, they withdrew support.[26] Danggalaba Kulumbirigin traditional owners made an emergency application to Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to have it ceased, on the grounds of protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage.[4][24] It was rejected in March 2024, sparking additional protests.[27] Defence Housing Australia voluntarily stopped work on the project until March 31 2024.[28] They then recommenced land clearing in late April 2024 triggering additional protests to defend the site resulting in multiple arrests.[29] Works halted again shortly after with accusations of illegal land clearing.[30]

References

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  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Lee Point (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2017. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "The Larrakia People". Larrakia Nation. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  3. ^ "HOME". Save Lee Point. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Abbatangelo, Ben (11 July 2023). "Binybara is not just home to the Gouldian finch. It's part of the Larrakia nation. And it deserves protection". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  5. ^ "General plan showing natural features of the country, towns, reserves, roads & sectional lands at, and in the vicinity of Port Darwin, Northern Territory of South Australia". territorystories.nt.gov.au. 1872. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  6. ^ "WWII Observation Post, Sandy Creek". Northern Territory. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  7. ^ Ecology and Heritage Partners. "Lee Point Master-planned Urban Development – Environmental Impact Statement" (PDF). Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  8. ^ Point, Friends of Lee (30 December 2022). "Darwin's large woodland trees - a preliminary study". Save Lee Point. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  9. ^ Bergstrom, Dana M.; Wienecke, Barbara C.; van den Hoff, John; Hughes, Lesley; Lindenmayer, David B.; Ainsworth, Tracy D.; Baker, Christopher M.; Bland, Lucie; Bowman, David M. J. S.; Brooks, Shaun T.; Canadell, Josep G.; Constable, Andrew J.; Dafforn, Katherine A.; Depledge, Michael H.; Dickson, Catherine R. (May 2021). "Combating ecosystem collapse from the tropics to the Antarctic". Global Change Biology. 27 (9): 1692–1703. doi:10.1111/gcb.15539. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30148368. ISSN 1354-1013.
  10. ^ "BirdLife Data Zone". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  11. ^ Lilleyman, Amanda; Rogers, Danny; O’brien, Gavin; Minton, Clive D.T.; Stephen T., Garnett (2022). "Roost site fidelity of the Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris on the non-breeding grounds". Wader Study. 129 (2): 119–125.
  12. ^ Lilleyman, Amanda; Garnett, Stephen T.; Rogers, Danny I.; Lawes, Michael J. (2016). "Trends in relative abundance of the Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis in Darwin, Northern Territory. Stilt, 68, 25-30.)". Stilt (68): 25–30.
  13. ^ a b Living with Migratory Shorebirds at Lee Point. BirdLife Top End. 2020. p. 12.
  14. ^ Lilleyman, Amanda; Franklin, Donald C.; Szabo, Judit K.; Lawes, Michael J. (2016). "Behavioural responses of migratory shorebirds to disturbance at a high-tide roost". Emu. 116 (2): 111–118.
  15. ^ Lilleyman, Amanda (2016). "Records of waterbirds and other water-associated birds from the 2014/15 migratory season in the Darwin region". Northern Territory Naturalist. 27: 54–59.
  16. ^ Lilleyman, Amanda; Hensen, Bastiaan J. (2014). "The occurrence of the Asian subspecies of the Gull-billed Tern ('Gelochelidon nilotica affinis') in the Darwin region" (PDF). Northern Territory Naturalist. 25: 12–17.
  17. ^ a b "Could this tiny, endangered bird stop a multi-million-dollar Defence housing development from going ahead?". ABC News. 23 September 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  18. ^ Rankmore, Brook (July 2003). "Species profile: Black-footed Tree-rat". Northern Territory Naturalist. 17: 56–57. doi:10.5962/p.295547. ISSN 0155-4093.
  19. ^ "Aborigines occupy Lee Point | Green Left". www.greenleft.org.au. 28 May 1997. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  20. ^ "Lee Point, Darwin | Residential developments | Defence Housing Australia". www.dha.gov.au. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  21. ^ Lilleyman, Amanda (September 2016). "Report on potential impacts from disturbance to migratory shorebirds in Darwin: Defence Housing Australia". Lee Point Master-planned Urban Development, Report to EcOz Environmental Consultants, Darwin.
  22. ^ "Residents devastated after environment minister approves housing project that could impact Gouldian finches". ABC News. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  23. ^ "Twitchers are flocking to a surprise location for one of Australia's rarest bird sightings". ABC News. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  24. ^ a b "Bulldozers stopped at Lee Point after cultural heritage injunction". ABC News. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  25. ^ Lanyuk; Rapira, Te Raukura O’Connell (3 February 2023). "Commons Conversations Podcast: Insights into Activism. Series 2. Episode 1. Insights into Indigenous Solidarity, Creativity and Social Justice with Laniyuk and Te Raukura O'Connell Rapira". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  26. ^ Morse, Callan (24 July 2023). "Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation withdraws support for Binybara/Lee Point development". Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  27. ^ "Environment minister rejects cultural heritage application at Darwin's Lee Point". ABC News. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  28. ^ "Defence Housing Australia puts Darwin's Lee Point development on hold until 2024". ABC News. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  29. ^ "Protesters arrested, crowds gather as bulldozers clear trees at Top End Defence housing development". ABC News. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  30. ^ "Bulldozers at multi-million dollar waterfront housing development stopped after 'scandalous' allegations". Yahoo News. 9 May 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
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