| Defence Establishment Orchard Hills | |
| Location: | , Sydney, New South Wales |
| Country: | Australia |
| Coordinates: | -33.8123°N 150.6919°W |
| Pushpin Map: | Australia Sydney |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Greater Sydney |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Ownership: | Department of Defence |
| Used: | 1940s present |
| Occupants: | Defence Explosive Ordnance Training School |
Defence Establishment Orchard Hills (abbreviated as DEOH) is a tri-service munitions storage base of particular importance to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Located in, in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the main role of the establishment is for storage, maintenance and distribution of Explosive Ordnance such as Bombs, Bullets, Missiles, and other military explosives. The base is also home to the RAAF-run Defence Explosive Ordnance Training School, which provides training in handling explosives to all branches of the Australian Defence Force, public servants and contractor personnel.[1]
As well as the storage of munitions, other activities carried out on the 1740ha 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 refuse, including building rubble.[2]
Also located on site is the privately owned Thales Ordnance Training Centre, an accredited registered training organisation that provides qualifications specific to explosives, and covering the disciplines of storage, transport, manufacture and proofing of explosive ordnance.[3]
Defence Establishment Orchard Hills encompasses a significant area of critically endangered and protected Cumberland Plain Woodland,[4] [5] which is endemic to the Western Sydney region.[6]
During siting and construction of the 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.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9]
From 2019 the base saw a significant investment in infrastructure, particularly as a result of the 2020 Defence Strategic Update and Force Structure Plan.[10] In 2019, a $95m AUD Naval Guided Weapons Maintenance Facilities Project was announced, and the facility was due to be completed by July 2021[11] but officially opened by the then Minister for Defence Peter Dutton on 5 April 2022.
On 23 July 2019, the Australian Government published an Approach To Market for a major base redevelopment. The scope of the work included:[12]
The project is valued between $300m and $400m AUD, and construction is expected to commence towards the end of 2023.[13]