The Territory Labor Government has chosen a site for the new Darwin Youth Justice Centre.
Seven sites were considered for the development of the new $60 million facility that will replace the existing Don Dale Youth Detention Centre and create more than 300 local jobs during construction.
Following a thorough assessment process, the Territory Government has chosen a greenfield site at Holtze. The site is located on nearly 15 hectares of vacant Crown Land that has been rezoned to Community Purpose, which will allow the project to commence.
The site best meets the criteria to develop a new Youth Justice Centre that will ensure young people who do the wrong things face the consequences of their actions because all Territorians deserve to be safe.
The site chosen is a discreet, non-residential location surrounded by dense vegetation, which is suitable for the new Youth Justice Centre for these reasons:
Proximity to professional services including police, emergency services and health services
Land tenure and ownership currently vacant Crown Land
Land size and accessibility is a large site that is easily accessible for staff, visitors and service providers
Existing usage and zoning the site has been rezoned to Community Purpose and the surrounding area is free from urban settlement
Highly vegetated site with the potential to provide environmental barriers and buffer zones
Service availability (i.e. power and water)
The seven sites that were considered include:
A greenfield site at Holtze (chosen)
An area within the Darwin Correctional Centre site
The former Gunn Point Prison farm site
A site at Gunn Point Murrumujuk
A site in Batchelor near the Batchelor Institute
The former Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre Facility
The southern portion of the current Don Dale Youth Detention Centre site in Berrimah
Replacing the existing Don Dale Youth Detention Centre with a new purpose-built Youth Justice Centre is a key recommendation from the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT.
