For some residents it started with a letter in the mailbox. It was a \u201cfriendly introduction from the team behind the Victorian AI hub\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am knocking on doors to explain what we have in mind and, most importantly, to listen,\u201d the letter from Syncline Energy stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cConstruction won\u2019t start for at least two-years while we complete the planning and environmental approvals.\u201d<\/p>\n
For others, news of the project had already spread, through social media and news reports which sounded the alarm before the company had begun its communication efforts.<\/p>\n
The site for what has been dubbed a mega datacentre in Plumpton, around30km north-west of the Melbourne CBD, is now an empty paddock next to Melbourne\u2019s renewable energy hub, just off the Calder Freeway. It\u2019s near a fast-growing suburb, transmission lines, and a stone\u2019s throw from where Harry Houdini made what was claimed to be Australia\u2019s first controlled powered flight in 1910<\/a>. Planes from nearby Tullarmarine airport fly low overhead, and on weekends the sky is punctured by the lights and sounds of the Calder speedway.<\/p>\n This paddock is rapidly becoming a microcosm of the growing community resentment to datacentres<\/a> across Australia.<\/p>\n Datacentres in Australia <\/a><\/p>\n The proposed site is 350 hectares, of which Syncline says 40% \u2013 140ha, or just under six times the size of Chadstone shopping centre \u2013 will be used to house four datacentre buildings with maximum capacity of 2.4GW, with the remaining 60% to be open land. The proposed centre is larger than any currently operating in Australia and would consume more electricity than is generated by Victoria\u2019s largest power station, Loy Yang A.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n The sheer scale of the project has alarmed residents before shovels have hit the ground, building on a growing deep discomfort with the explosion in datacentre construction. An April report<\/a> by lobby group Data Centres Australia said there were 30 datacentres in operation in Victoria, with another 30 in the pipeline.<\/p>\n Environmental impacts, electricity and water use, concerns about the rise of AI more broadly, and the impact of campaigns in the US \u2013 which show developments stretching for miles, lit up like an international airport and with a constant hum of white noise and higher power prices \u2013 are feeding community concerns.<\/p>\n A petition calling on the state government to \u201censure the environmental, cultural, social and infrastructure implications of the proposed Victorian AI Hub are fully assessed and publicly considered,\u201d as well as the cumulative effects of other new datacentres, has amassed over 3,600 signatures. It was started by Molly Walker, who lives over 250km away in the Grampians and first heard about the plans on TikTok.<\/p>\n Walker, who works in conservation, said the scale of the project made her think \u201cenough is enough\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHow much is being taken away from the environment?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n Local resident and civil designer, Karen Austria on the edge of the land in Plumpton. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also the noise \u2026 I\u2019ve heard a lot about the datacentres in America and how much noise they produce. I did some research and found they\u2019re not much different from the ones here in terms of the impact.\u201d<\/p>\n Other locals feel the western suburbs have become \u201ca dumping ground\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThey always say they can\u2019t put datacentres out in the east because of the land. The west has these vast lands and because of the socio-demographic areas [of the east] people there are likely to complain,\u201d says Dr Karen Austria.<\/p>\n Austria grew up in the area, and is an electrical engineer by training. She says locals are concerned the industrial development could lead to a drop in house prices.<\/p>\n She also points to the fact the location is within a green wedge, which the state government has said should have its environmental, economic and cultural values protected.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are you putting this in our back yard?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re promising to do community consultation \u2026 but everyone has got this one letter and they feel like they don\u2019t know enough about it yet and the company needs to communicate more.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Desirable\u2019 scale<\/p>\n Much of the community anger about the wave of datacentres in development has stemmed from a lack of community consultation, and through fast-track approval processes that skip the lengthy council review to go straight to the state government.<\/p>\n The managing director of Syncline Energy, Phil Galloway, says the company is carefully consulting with locals before submitting the planned application for the Plumpton site.<\/p>\n \u201cThe process starts with our direct neighbours and works out from there. The conversations will take at least a year,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Ecological surveys and cultural heritage work is being undertaken parallel to the community discussions, Galloway says, adding that locals need to be shown there will be no noise, heat island, traffic, ecology or pollution, \u201cwhich means careful engineering, architecture and urban planning\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be insincere if we submitted a planning permit and then sought that input later,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The land in Plumpton sits under the Melbourne airport flight path. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Galloway says the large scale of the project is all about building sovereign AI capability, and making efficient use of land, energy and water. The size of the land will allow buffers and green space between the buildings and residents. It\u2019s also almost entirely under the Melbourne<\/a> airport flight path, which means there are planning restrictions against using it for housing.<\/p>\n The company is promising to use solar, wind and battery storage and provide additional transmission and grid stability. Galloway says it will also create local jobs, a community fund and walking and cycling paths.<\/p>\n \u201cThat scale can only be delivered through a major precinct connecting into the main 500kV grid rather than piecemeal smaller datacentres in the suburbs and rural towns,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom a network stability point of view, it is desirable to concentrate the datacentre load at a strong point in the grid and install buffering equipment so to stabilise any IT load changes.\u201d<\/p>\n A Facebook group created in opposition to the project has more than 300 members.<\/p>\n The city of Melton is already feeling the heat, and was forced to clarify its role will be limited if the application goes to the state government.<\/p>\n Opposition to the plan has also reached the offices of local federal MPs, with Labor\u2019s Alice Jordan-Baird and Sam Rae releasing a statement earlier this month saying they would write to the Victorian government and Syncline to ask how the project aligns with the federal government expectations on datacentres and AI infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cThe west cannot simply become the destination for infrastructure that places additional strain on resources while delivering little in return,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n Balancing risks<\/p>\n The rapid expansion of datacentres in Australia has experts warnings of a massive impact on the nation\u2019s energy<\/a> and water supplies<\/a>.<\/p>\n The NSW Net Zero Commission said this week that the booming number of datacentres \u201ccould have ramifications for the electricity sector\u2019s transition\u201d.<\/p>\n A federal parliamentary inquiry into datacentres began in May, and a NSW inquiry is ongoing. There have been calls for a moratorium on new developments until the federal government introduces new rules.<\/p>\n The land in Plumpton. The state government has been spruiking the benefits of datacentre construction in Victoria. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The Australian government\u2019s framework for the energy and water-hungry developments would create a legal obligation for large-scale datacentres to underwrite new power supply, pay their full share of grid connection, and add as much energy to the grid as they take out of it, Albanese said this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new policy will aim to find the balance between growing community concerns, the desire for sovereign AI capability, and the potential for billions in investment \u2013 and still get buy in from the states to properly plan for the growth of the sector.<\/p>\n The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, told the state parliament in May that Melbourne was the \u201ckey destination for datacentre investment\u201d.<\/p>\n The Victorian minister for economic growth, Steve Dimopoulos, later told an economic forum that it was not a question of how many datacentres the state can build but \u201cwhat kind of Victoria we build around them\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For some residents it started with a letter in the mailbox. 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