The Territory Coordinator is responsible for the planning, establishment and ongoing management of Territory Development Areas (TDAs) throughout the Northern Territory.
TDAs are areas of land or water designated by the Minister for Territory Coordinator to enable investigations of the area’s potential for significant economic development to the Territory, or a region of the Territory.
For example, a TDA could support investigations for:
- large scale industrial hubs strategically integrated with logistics corridors
- infrastructure corridors that connect significant natural resources with processing facilities or downstream users, or
- major development sites with complex assessment and approval processes.
When the minister designates a new TDA, it will be published on the Territory Coordinator publication web page including a statement of reasons for declaring that TDA, the intended development outcomes and the boundaries of the area.
Territory development area plans
A Territory development area plan (TDAP) is a document that may identify:
- the activities, land uses, development outcomes and environmental and social values or outcomes for the plan area;
- the infrastructure and services required for the activities, land uses and development proposed for the plan area;
- land that may be acquired;
- any governance or finance frameworks required for delivering the plan.
After preparing a proposed TDAP, the Territory Coordinator must publish the proposed TDAP on the Territory Coordinator website and undertake public consultation on the proposed plan for 20 business days.
Members of the public and interested parties will be invited to make submissions on a proposed TDAP during the public consultation period.
After public consultation on a proposed TDAP, the Territory Coordinator must give the minister a summary of consultation submissions and recommendations in relation to the proposed plan including any proposed changes for the minister’s consideration and decision.
If the minister approves the proposed TDAP it is published on the Territory Coordinator publication web page.
Benefits of TDAs and TDA Plans
The benefits of TDAs include:
- a clear vision of the economic potential of the land
- a land use framework tailored to the bespoke requirements of investors
- focused project management of investigations or studies to derisk the development potential of the area for investors
- ability to integrate significant projects with the infrastructure they require
- ability to maximise the benefits of multi-user infrastructure or corridors
- visibility to all statutory approvals within the TDA
- ability to coordinate and streamline statutory processes and decisions
- identification of land to be acquired where essential to the success of the TDA
- the option to set out how the land will be managed by an authority.
TDAs will enable the diversification of industrial development and unlock investment opportunities to deliver significant economic benefits.