Lane Cove Community Group Joins National Push to Halt Data Centre Approvals

The Lane Cove Responsible Planning Group has joined a national alliance calling on Australian state and territory governments to immediately halt approvals of new data centre developments until stronger planning protections are in place.

National Alliance to Halt Data Centre Approvals

The Alliance includes

• Citizens of Tottenham (Victoria)
• Climate group 350 Australia
• Lane Cove Responsible Planning Group
• Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Association (WA)
• Trillion Trees (WA)
• Community representatives from Moss Vale (NSW)

The Alliance says other groups are expected to join.

Lane Cove Responsible Planning Group representative Sasha Titchkovsky says the community’s concerns are well-founded.

“It’s evident to the Lane Cove community that the current NSW planning framework for data centres is not fit for purpose. These are not ordinary warehouses. They are large scale industrial facilities with significant noise, air quality, fire safety, energy, water and environmental implications. Stronger planning controls, independent assessment and ongoing monitoring must be in place before any further approvals are granted.”

The Alliance is calling on all state and territory governments to:

• Introduce an immediate moratorium on new approvals
• establish national planning and environmental standards for hyperscale data centres
• require cumulative environmental, health and climate impact assessments
• give local communities — particularly First Nations communities — meaningful input into the location, design and approval of projects, including the ability to reject inappropriate developments.

The Alliance argues Australia is falling behind comparable jurisdictions. The Alliance say that in the United States, legislation has been introduced to enact temporary moratoria or restrictions on new data centre development while planning controls and infrastructure requirements are reviewed.

The Alliance joins Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and other national organisations in calling for stronger regulation, reflecting growing concern that planning systems designed for conventional industrial development are not equipped to assess the scale and complexity of hyperscale AI infrastructure.

The Alliance says it is not opposed to digital infrastructure investment but wants governments to set the rules before the next wave of approvals, not after.

Project Mars: Highest Number of Community Submissions

In the Cove started reporting on data centres and community concerns in 2022.  Now,  Lane Cove is set to become a data centre cluster with five data centres either operating, approved or in the planning system.

The proposed Project Mars development attracted the highest level of community opposition of any proposed data centre in NSW, with submissions raising concerns about noise, diesel generator emissions, traffic, and the cumulative impact of multiple large-scale facilities near homes, a school, playing fields, and important conservation areas.  Read more here.

Lane Cove Council Calls for Better Data Centre Planning

At the June Lane Cove Council Meeting, councillors voted to approve a notice of motion tabled by Councillor Rochelle Flood, which advocated for clearer regulations and compliance standards for the operation of data centres in NSW.

The resolution included:

• NSW planning and environmental laws have not kept pace with the rapid rise of data centre applications, leaving NSW with inadequate compliance monitoring of data centre operations.
• Calls for improved regulation of data centres to ensure compliance across all aspects, including development and day-to-day operations (e.g., noise reports, fire safety standards), as well as water use and emissions targets.
• Council writes to the NSW Premier and Minister for Planning asking them to establish a single regulatory authority to oversee all matters relating to data centre operating standards, such as noise reporting, fire safety requirements, etc, emissions and water use targets.
• Investigate alternative regulatory models to make it easier for communities to lodge valid complaints and ensure transparent oversight of data centre compliance.

Councillor Flood also requested that the above point be included in Lane Cove Council’s submission to the Federal Inquiry into AI and data centres and that the NSW Data Centre inquiry be asked if these additional concerns about regulatory compliance can be noted.

Greenpeace Findings

The call for a moratorium comes as Greenpeace Australia Pacific has published a major report, Energy Vampires: the AI Data Centres Draining Australia, which notes that the rapid rollout of AI data centres in Australia risks derailing the renewable energy transition and entrenching gas and fossil fuels in the grid. The report was co-authored by independent climate expert Ketan Joshi.

Key Findings in that report are:

• data centres already fail to cover their own emissions with new renewables
• there are early signs of a data centre-fuelled gas boom
• data centre operators do not disclose site-specific energy consumption despite claims of transparency

Greenpeace is holding a free community event in Lane Cove on Monday 6 July from 7:30–9:00 pm. Speakers will include Greenpeace campaigners Solaye Snider and Dr Simon Bradshaw, Francesca Flynn from the Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Association. They will speak about the campaign to stop a data centre being built on Noongar Country in WA.

Representatives from Lane Cove Responsible Planning Group will also be speaking.   Bookings are essential; find out more here.

Our cover photo features members of the Lane Cove Responsible Planning Group