Goodman Data Centre Under Pressure After Mass Public Submissions

The proposed Goodman Project Mars Data Centre planned for 12 Mars Road, Lane Cove West has set a record for the number of submissions lodged for a NSW Data Centre State Significant Development with 374 Submissions.

 Of those, only nine submissions support the construction of the data centre. 

The single most consequential submission, however, is not from a resident or Lane Cove Council it’s from Sydney Water who has asked the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (Planning NSW)  to defer its assessment until a separate Planning Agreement study is finished.  It is estimated that the study will be completed late 2026 (Quarter 4).

On the public record, this is the first time Sydney Water has formally asked Planning NSW to pause an NSW data centre application.

A record by a wide margin

Planning NSW State Significant Data Centre Projects portal has 41 approved data centre applications, pending applications and modifications listed (filtered under data storage). Three of the top six submission counts on that list are inside the Lane Cove local government area.

The next-highest count is ISPT’s Julius Avenue project at North Ryde, with almost 190 submissions.

This is not the first time a Lane Cove LGA data centre proposal has seen a large number of objections.

Microsoft’s withdrawn 706 Mowbray Road Lane Cove North proposal received 60 objections.

The AirTrunk SYD2 original facility also located in Lane Cove West business park received 20 submissions. This facility is the project that started the Lane Cove West Data Centre cluster. It was assessed under the same SSD pathway, and was the subject of an earlier ITC investigation into planning compliance and noise.

Sydney Water asks Planning NSW to pause

Sydney Water’s letter dated 30 April 2026 opening paragraph states:

“Sydney Water is unable to support progression of SSD-82052708 without further study outputs.”

It then asks Planning NSW to stop assessing the application:

“It is requested that DPHI defer SSD-82052708 and re-refer once outcomes of the assessment have been finalised.”

Sydney Water reasons the site sits in the Chatswood Water Supply Zone where the existing drinking water system has limited capacity to service the development. 

Goodman’s own Environmental Impact Statement estimates Project Mars would consume 1,405 kLs of potable water and produce 468 kLs of wastewater every day, a figure ITC reported on 8 April as 510,009 cubic metres a year – equivalent to 204 Olympic swimming pools.

Sydney Water notes the site is in a high growth area (including potential for other data centres) and the demand must be investigated holistically.

Sydney Water and Goodman have entered a Planning Agreement under which Goodman is paying for a detailed servicing assessment. That study, the letter says, will commence imminently and conclude in Q4 2026. Until it is finished, Sydney Water cannot say whether Project Mars can be served, by what means, or at what cost.

Sydney Water’s standard practice on data centre SSDs is to provide technical conditions: supply zone, Section 73 Compliance Certificate, Building Plan Approval, Growth Data Form. so, historically speaking, making this deferral request unusual.

Previously, in its advice on Stockland’s Khartoum Road Macquarie Park proposal in September 2025, Sydney Water flagged the Marsfield system as ‘currently at capacity’ but did not ask NSW Planning to defer its assessment.

On NextDC’s S5, in the Macquarie Park availability zone, Sydney Water said servicing arrangements would be resolved through ongoing discussions after approval. 

AirTrunk’s SYD2, the Apollo Place extension, and other projects in the same precinct drew standardised servicing advice.  NSW Planning was not asked to pause their assessment.

ITC’s December 2025 investigation, Cluster Boom, reported Sydney Water’s projection that data centres could consume 250 megalitres a day across Sydney by 2035, around a quarter of the city’s drinking-water supply.

At that point Sydney Water’s draft Data Centre Planning Policy was being prepared. As of May 2026, the draft policy has not been finalised.  Sydney Water told ITC they have a limited position paper which will be ready in the not too distant future.

Lane Cove Council Objections

Lane Cove Council’s submission, lodged 20 April 2026, is completely different to its response to the Airtrunk development applications.

It opposes Goodman’s Clause 4.6 height-variation request, which would allow a 28.3 metre building, exceeding local height caps by 57 per cent.

Lane Cove Council noted the Visual Impact Assessment is “misleading regarding the coverage provided from existing trees” because it does not differentiate between canopy that will be retained and trees proposed for removal.

The submission’s most pointed argument is about cumulative impact. They note that approved or proposed data centres will be roughly 40 per cent of the Lane Cove Business Park, a traditional light industry zone.

Lane Cove Council asked Planning NSW to model 50, 75 and 100 per cent saturation scenarios before any further consents are granted and writes that “no documentation has been provided considering the accumulative impacts of all existing/proposed data centres within the Lane Cove industrial area.”

Interestingly 25 and 27 Sirius Road, Lane Cove West has just been sold.  The site was noted in marketing materials as suitable for a data centre.  Could this be another data centre?

Who else objected, and what they said

In addition to Sydney Water and Lane Cove Council, objectors included residents, local sports groups, environment groups, the local scout group and Lane Cove West Public Parents & Citizens Association (P&C)

Lane Cove West Public School is 160 metres from the proposed Goodman Data Centre, in their submission they noted that “children are sensitive receptors and rely on planning authorities and legislation to represent them and protect their best interests.”  The submission notes that Australia has no regulatory framework for assessing 24-hour low-frequency noise on humans and cites a 300-metre setback used in some United States jurisdictions.

The 1st Lane Cove Scout Group, whose hall is in Blackman Park, objected, noting wildlife disturbances from constant low-frequency noise as one of their reasons.

Sydney’s oldest north-shore sporting club, the North Shore Rowing Club, lodged a submission speaking on its own behalf and on behalf of St Ignatius’ College Riverview, Sydney University Boat Club, Community Rowing Club Sydney and Macquarie University Rowing Club, all of which use the Lane Cove River.  The Club noted “The EIS does not provide a comprehensive description and assessment of the likely impacts of the development and its activities on Lane Cove River.”

Lane Cove Junior Rugby Union, which uses Blackman Park for training, wrote that “the proposal introduces an intensive, 24/7 industrial facility immediately adjacent to a space designed for children’s sport, play, and wellbeing.”

Lane Cove Bushland and Conservation Society, Stringy Bark Creek Residents’ Association, and Friends of Lane Cove National Park also lodged objections. The last group documents ‘credible reports’ of Powerful Owls using the site, and threats to a nearby Coastal Salt Marsh community listed as Endangered under NSW law and Vulnerable under federal legislation.

Issues Raised

Noise was the number one reason for people objecting to the proposal.

The Lane Cove West Responsible Planning Group commissioned Acoustic Dynamics Pty Ltd, to undertake a peer review of Goodman’s noise consultant report.

The peer review queries the placement of background-noise logger L02 (immediately adjacent to the site, on the rear balcony of 10 Banksia Close); recommends additional logging at 64, 66 and 68 Wood Street; and identifies that 14 Mars Road, the address of the Cochlear Australia offices, was treated as ian industrial site rather than a commercial site.

Goodman proposes 49 generators, with around one million litres of diesel and 194,000 kilograms of lithium batteries on site.  The Stringy Bark Creek Residents’ Association wrote: “It is totally unacceptable that there should be power outages in the Lane Cove community while the data centre switches on its polluting diesel generators.”

The seven concerns raised most often across the 374 submissions, expressed as a percentage of all submissions (a single submission may raise more than one issue). Source 374 submission on SSD-82052708, May 2026.

Nine Submission in Favour

Of the 374 submissions, nine are in support. Five of those nine came from inside Lane Cove LGA. The other four came from outside the LGA: two from Chatswood, one from Denistone East and one from Eastwood. 

Next Steps

NSW Planning extended the original 28 April submissions deadline for Goodman by public notice on 20 April 2026. Submissions closed on 5 May 2026. On 6 May 2026, the Department issued a request for a Submissions Report and Goodman needs to prepare a response to the submissions.  Planning NSW also noted they would be issuing another letter which outlines futher matters to be addressed.

Data Centre Planning Issues

External pressure on the planning system itself has not gone away. The NSW Legislative Council’s inquiry into data centres is holding hearings through May 2026; submissions to that inquiry closed on 27 March, with 125 received including from IPART, the Water Services Association of Australia, the Water Directorate, NSROC, Lane Cove Council and Penrith Council. 

Sydney Water did not lodge a submission to the inquiry. 

In the Cove will approach Goodman, the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, and Sydney Water for response on the number of submissions lodged.