Deeper Maintenance and Modification Facility (DMMF) Project

Consultation has concluded

If you a Traditional Owner or an Aboriginal party with an interest in the northern Adelaide region, we want to hear from you.

What's being decided?

The Urban Renewal Authority - Renewal SA (Applicant) proposes to construct a maintenance and modification facility within an area immediately south of Womma Road, east of Heaslip Road, and north of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Edinburgh in Penfield (Application Area). Aboriginal objects have been found in the Application Area.

Your views will help the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (Minister) decide whether to authorise impacts to Aboriginal sites, objects and ancestral remains (together, heritage) within the Application Area to enable the construction of this facility.

Background

The Minister, who is responsible for the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 (SA) (Act), has received an application for authorisations under the Act from the Applicant to enable the construction of its proposed Deeper Maintenance and Modification Facility Project.

The project involves the construction of a facility within the Application Area for the long-term maintenance and modification requirements of the Commonwealth Department of Defence’s Boeing 737 aircraft fleet next to RAAF Base Edinburgh.

The project would consist of ground-disturbing works to construct:

  • four aircraft hangars
  • warehouses
  • workshops
  • offices
  • associated infrastructure and services.

The project also proposes landscaping and vegetation clearing, as well as various works required to establish a temporary compound.

Under the Act, any excavation, uncovering, damage, disturbance and/or interference with Aboriginal heritage needs authorisation under sections 21 and 23 of the Act. The Applicant is also seeking authorisation under section 29(1)(b) for radiocarbon dating of any discovered heritage, if Traditional Owners request it. This is because the heritage would need to be removed from the state to suitable testing facilities interstate or overseas.

Get involved

Section 13 of the Act requires the Minister to consult with the State Aboriginal Heritage Committee (Committee), relevant Traditional Owners and any other Aboriginal people or organisations that he considers may have an interest in this matter.

If you are a Traditional Owner or an interested Aboriginal party, please read the Consultation Information Pack and consider responding to the following key questions:

  1. Should the authorisations sought by the Applicant be granted? Why or why not?
  2. If the authorisations are granted, what conditions (if any) should be imposed on them?
  3. Will the project provide you with any direct or indirect benefits (e.g., cultural, financial or personal)?
  4. Are there any other matters the Minister should consider when deciding on this application?

If you wish to learn more, to lodge a submission and/or be notified of the Minister’s decision, you can:

See the Consultation Information Pack for further details on how to lodge a verbal or written submission.

AAR is available to assist people to record submissions if they have any difficulty in doing so.

Submissions must be received by AAR by Friday 26 April 2024.

What are the next steps?

You may request that AAR keeps any cultural information in your submission confidential. AAR will facilitate these requests, where possible, in line with procedural fairness principles. Otherwise, AAR will forward your submissions in full to the Applicant for comment. Once the public consultation has closed, AAR will forward your submissions and the Applicant’s comments to the Committee, whose views will also be sought.

AAR will collate all submissions, the Applicant’s responses to them, the Committee’s advice, and its own recommendations to the Minister to assist him to make a final decision about the application.

If you a Traditional Owner or an Aboriginal party with an interest in the northern Adelaide region, we want to hear from you.

What's being decided?

The Urban Renewal Authority - Renewal SA (Applicant) proposes to construct a maintenance and modification facility within an area immediately south of Womma Road, east of Heaslip Road, and north of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Edinburgh in Penfield (Application Area). Aboriginal objects have been found in the Application Area.

Your views will help the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (Minister) decide whether to authorise impacts to Aboriginal sites, objects and ancestral remains (together, heritage) within the Application Area to enable the construction of this facility.

Background

The Minister, who is responsible for the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 (SA) (Act), has received an application for authorisations under the Act from the Applicant to enable the construction of its proposed Deeper Maintenance and Modification Facility Project.

The project involves the construction of a facility within the Application Area for the long-term maintenance and modification requirements of the Commonwealth Department of Defence’s Boeing 737 aircraft fleet next to RAAF Base Edinburgh.

The project would consist of ground-disturbing works to construct:

  • four aircraft hangars
  • warehouses
  • workshops
  • offices
  • associated infrastructure and services.

The project also proposes landscaping and vegetation clearing, as well as various works required to establish a temporary compound.

Under the Act, any excavation, uncovering, damage, disturbance and/or interference with Aboriginal heritage needs authorisation under sections 21 and 23 of the Act. The Applicant is also seeking authorisation under section 29(1)(b) for radiocarbon dating of any discovered heritage, if Traditional Owners request it. This is because the heritage would need to be removed from the state to suitable testing facilities interstate or overseas.

Get involved

Section 13 of the Act requires the Minister to consult with the State Aboriginal Heritage Committee (Committee), relevant Traditional Owners and any other Aboriginal people or organisations that he considers may have an interest in this matter.

If you are a Traditional Owner or an interested Aboriginal party, please read the Consultation Information Pack and consider responding to the following key questions:

  1. Should the authorisations sought by the Applicant be granted? Why or why not?
  2. If the authorisations are granted, what conditions (if any) should be imposed on them?
  3. Will the project provide you with any direct or indirect benefits (e.g., cultural, financial or personal)?
  4. Are there any other matters the Minister should consider when deciding on this application?

If you wish to learn more, to lodge a submission and/or be notified of the Minister’s decision, you can:

See the Consultation Information Pack for further details on how to lodge a verbal or written submission.

AAR is available to assist people to record submissions if they have any difficulty in doing so.

Submissions must be received by AAR by Friday 26 April 2024.

What are the next steps?

You may request that AAR keeps any cultural information in your submission confidential. AAR will facilitate these requests, where possible, in line with procedural fairness principles. Otherwise, AAR will forward your submissions in full to the Applicant for comment. Once the public consultation has closed, AAR will forward your submissions and the Applicant’s comments to the Committee, whose views will also be sought.

AAR will collate all submissions, the Applicant’s responses to them, the Committee’s advice, and its own recommendations to the Minister to assist him to make a final decision about the application.

Consultation has concluded

  • Consultation Outcome

    The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs has granted authorisations under sections 21, 23 and 29(1)(b) of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 (SA) to the Applicant.

    Traditional Owners and other interested Aboriginal parties are requested to contact Senior Project Officer (Heritage), Mr Peter Kapiris on (08) 8429 9419 or peter.kapiris@sa.gov.au for further information.