Mango roads upgrade and seal

Key sections of road in the Territory’s most productive mango growing region will be upgraded. This project aims to improve mango quality and increase local industry productivity.

The project to upgrade and seal four sections of unsealed roads will improve:

• access and connectivity between mango farms and packing sheds in the Litchfield municipality
• safety for contractors, workers and residents.

The $21 million project is jointly funded by the Australian and Northern Territory (NT) governments and the Litchfield Council.

The NT Government is delivering the project to deliver sealing and upgrades to:

• Chibnall Road between Old Bynoe and Leonino Road (5.4km) - 2020
• Mocatto Road between Whitstone and Acacia Gap Road (3.2km) - 2020
• Horsnell Road between Elizabeth Valley Road and Alverly Road (3.4km) - 2020
• Kentish Road between Hopewell Road and the end of seal (3.2km) - 2021.

Access for local residents and businesses will be maintained during construction.

Stakeholder notice

Read the below stakeholder notices:

• stakeholder notice - August 2023 PDF (195.3 KB)
• stakeholder notice - construction start for Kentish Road PDF (556.7 KB)
• stakeholder notice - tender release for Chibnall, Mocatto and Horsnell Roads PDF (634.3 KB)
• stakeholder notice - tender award for Chibnall, Moscatto and Horsnell Roads PDF (655.6 KB)
• stakeholder notice - construction commencing PDF (657.6 KB).

Project benefits

The project is expected to have the following benefits:

• Highly productive mango farms and packing sheds are along the routes to be upgraded and sealed. The unsealed roads are used either to move fruit from orchards to the packing sheds, or from the sheds to market. The roads are also the access routes for staff and supply chain inputs.
• A business case on the project commissioned by Litchfield Council and the NT Farmers Association found sealing of these roads would reduce bruising - which would be sufficient to increase revenue for the relevant producers by more than $1 million each year.
• The project will improve the production output of farms in the vicinity, encouraging further investment and supporting and creating jobs in the sector. Permanent employment on farm is predicted to increase by six to ten staff, and harvest workers by 28 staff (4.7FTE) during the harvest period.
• The project will support:
  • an estimated 109 jobs during the construction phase
  • an estimated 10 ongoing jobs in operations.
• It’s expected there will be increased investment and employment on local mango farms and packing sheds over the 30-year horizon of the project.
• The upgrades will also reduce the extent of closures during major weather events and will improve road safety.

Map

The following map shows where the road works will occur.

Contact

Email: communications.dipl@nt.gov.au
Phone: 08 8946 5156