Controversial plans to transform an outback cattle station into one of Australia's biggest horticulture developments have hit another snag.
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Melbourne-based Fortune Agribusiness wants to build a 3300-hectare irrigated horticulture project at Singleton Station, about 400km north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
The Territory's Environment Protection Authority now wants the project to go through a formal environment impact assessment.
Fortune Agribusiness comprises a group of investors who bought the 294,900ha Singleton Station in 2016.
Pastoralists in the NT have been keen to explore other uses for their leased country other than cattle grazing such as growing emerging crops like cotton.
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Fortune plans to take huge amounts of groundwater to irrigate its proposed crops and clear 4037 hectares (9976 acres) of native scrub for the development have caused an outcry among environment and Indigenous groups.
The company was initially granted the biggest water licence ever granted in the Territory so it can proceed with the $150 million project.
The station only receives annual rainfall of 386mm.
The government decision means groundwater will be released to Fortune in four stages over the next decade, peaking at 40 gigalitres through about 140 bores.
The station can access the Western Davenport aquifer with an estimated groundwater storage greater than 138,314 gigalitres.
Under NT law, the irrigation water would be free, despite experts saying the water would be priced as much as $100 million in other jurisdictions.
The farm will cultivate permanent crops such as citrus, grapes, avocados, onions, rockmelons and other crops.
That government decision on water extraction has been met with court challenges and public protest.
Fortune Agribusiness chairman Peter Wood initially said the company hoped to kick-start the project last year.
The Central Land Council expressed its concern over the size of the water licence.
Environment Centre NT said the decision defied logic and could result in the aquifer being drawn down by 50 metres.
Native title holders have asked the NT's Supreme Court to set aside the government's water extraction approval.
The NT EPA said the Singleton project would also need a "services hub" which would include accommodation for about 150 permanent staff and up to 1350 seasonal staff.
In explaining its reasons for requiring the EIS, the EPA said the proposal had the potential to have a significant impact on local groundwater reserves and quality.
"There is insufficient information to assess the significance of potential impacts to sacred sites and other cultural values in the region," the EPA found.
Chris McLennan
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
