The Fyles Government is seeking public feedback on its plan to build a manufacturing precinct at Middle Arm, five months after a government environmental report identified likely risks to threatened species and the health of Palmerston residents.

Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics staff will be setting up community information stalls at local markets and shopping centres to gather people’s feedback about the planned precinct “over the coming weeks”.

The consultation with the public also comes four months after the government said it was moving ahead with the project and changing how it monitors manufacturing emissions emitted from a project-by-project basis to a “whole-of-precinct” model.

The government said the officially named “Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct”, which would see petrochemicals manufacturing for products like plastics and paint, would capitalise on the Territory’s access to natural gas and renewable energies to grow manufacturing jobs while supporting economic growth in the region.

It also said the proposed precinct, which was recommended by the Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission led by former Dow Chemicals CEO and Darwin native Andrew Liveris, would have a focus on “low emission hydrocarbons, green hydrogen, advanced manufacturing, carbon capture and minerals processing”.

It was not explained how all those “focused” goals would work together.

An NT Government environmental report was submitted in April under its environmental approvals process for the project, which found that plans to industrialise Middle Arm, could cause “significant” negative impacts on threatened species and health effects for Palmerston residents.

The report was labelled by environmental advocates as an “incredibly concerning” warning.

Jason Fowler from the Environment Centre NT said at the time that all the processing will be taking place just three kilometres from Palmerston suburbs.

“You’re talking about ammonia, methanol, hydrogen and gas liquids processing in Middle Arm, which is a petroleum refinery. If you look anywhere around the globe, you’re not finding massive petrochemical refineries right next to suburbia,” Mr Fowler told ABC at the time.

The report also cautioned that industrialising the Middle Arm area will negatively impact threatened species and migratory shorebirds and impact habitat due to at least 1,500 hectares of land needing to be cleared for the precinct.

“Significant impacts to marine water and sediment quality in the harbour, and to marine ecosystems could result from dredging and shipping operations,” the report said.

Govt pledges to protect harbour, seeking community input

Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Eva Lawler – who is also the Environment Minister – said the industrialisation of Middle Arm was necessary to provide long-term economic growth – including reaching the proposed goal of a $40 billion NT economy by 2030 – but would take into account the importance of preserving Darwin Harbour.

“Ongoing community engagement is crucial to ensuring Territorians understand what is proposed for the Middle Arm precinct and how to be involved,” she said in a statement.

“I encourage everyone with an interest in this development to visit the website, talk to the team at community stalls and have a say on the future of the Territory.

“The Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct will help achieve this [$40 billion economy] goal in a sustainable way that will also drive industry diversification, exports, jobs and population growth over the next 50 years.”

DIPL, which is leading the planning, design and environmental assessment for the precinct and has commissioned a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), will submit the preliminary SEA early next year, which it said would include input from the community and stakeholders.

The government said in a statement that the SEA was a first in the Territory that aims to “maximise positive benefits” from the planned precinct while “mitigating” negative health and environmental impacts, and would also preserve the Darwin Harbour.

Aside from the community information stalls, Territorians can also provide feedback as part of the independent social impact assessment by answering a survey or providing comments via HaveYourSay.nt.gov.au.