Defence Establishment Orchard Hills (abbreviated as DEOH) is a tri-service
munitions
Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of ...
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia, the main role of the establishment is for storage, maintenance and distribution of Explosive Ordnance such as
Bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
s,
Bullet
A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...
s,
Missile
A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor.
Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...
explosives
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...
to all branches of the
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...
, public servants and contractor personnel.
As well as the storage of munitions, other activities carried out on the site include the use of weapon ranges, firing ranges, fire training areas, and fuel storage and distribution from above ground and underground storage tanks. The site also contains a sewerage treatment plant, and two landfills for waste disposal from both site operations and general non-
putrescible
Decomposition is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is essenti ...
refuse, including building rubble.
Also located on site is the privately owned
Thales
Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...
Ordnance Training Centre, an accredited
registered training organisation
A registered training organisation (RTO), in Australia, is an organisation providing Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses to students, resulting in qualifications or statements of attainment that are recognised and accepted by indust ...
that provides qualifications specific to explosives, and covering the disciplines of storage, transport, manufacture and proofing of explosive ordnance.
Environmental Offset for Western Sydney Airport
''Defence Establishment Orchard Hills'' encompasses a significant area of critically endangered and protected
Cumberland Plain Woodland
The Cumberland Plain Woodland, also known as Cumberland Plain Bushland and Western Sydney woodland,Western Sydney (Nancy Bird-Walton) Airport, it was announced that ''Defence Establishment Orchard Hills'' would serve as an environmental offset to compensate for destruction of the woodland associated with clearing of the airport; over 900-hectares of ''Defence Establishment Orchard Hills'' was set aside for this purpose.
Concerns
Part of the area established as the environmental offset has since been cleared to allow construction of a carpark for a new facility within the establishment.
Other groups have raised concerns that because the property is owned by the Federal Government and was already listed for protection and conservation, it does not serve as an effective offset for the new construction.
Base Redevelopment
From 2019 the base saw a significant investment in infrastructure, particularly as a result of the 2020 Defence Strategic Update and Force Structure Plan. In 2019, a $95m AUD ''Naval Guided Weapons Maintenance Facilities Project'' was announced, and the facility was due to be completed by July 2021 but officially opened by the then
Minister for Defence
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
Peter Dutton
Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party from 2 ...
on 5 April 2022.
The scope presented to the Public Works Committee in 2024 includes:
* upgrade and remediation of site infrastructure and engineering services, including potable and fire-water networks and electrical, ICT, and wastewater systems
* new and upgraded administration and working accommodation, and multi-purpose logistics facilities
* new and upgraded instructional and working facilities for the Defence Explosive Ordnance Training School
* new Living-In Accommodation
* new working accommodation for Defence and Contractor personnel currently accommodated in disaggregated facilities at DEOH and in leased accommodation in Penrith
* new and upgraded health and wellbeing facilities, including a small gymnasium and a multi-use sports court
* upgraded base entry and security, including reconfiguration of the base entry, perimeter fencing, lighting and closed circuit television
* a new multi-user Cadet facility to support existing Army and Navy Cadet Units displaced by other work elements, and to relocate an existing Air Force Cadet Unit from off-base to on-base
* demolition of surplus/obsolete facilities that have reached their end-of-life.
The project is valued at $AUD359.3 million with construction expected to commence in 2025.
See also
*
List of Royal Australian Air Force installations
This is a list of current and previous Royal Australian Air Force airstrips, aerodromes and bases. The air force also owns and maintains "bare bases" in remote areas of Australia. These bases have runways and buildings, but only a caretaker st ...