{"id":901339,"date":"2026-09-22T13:52:26","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T13:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901339\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T13:52:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T13:52:26","slug":"victorian-data-centre-rules-new-150-metre-buffer-zones-introduced-for-future-projects-but-existing-sites-exempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901339\/","title":{"rendered":"Victorian data centre rules: New 150-metre buffer zones introduced for future projects but existing sites exempt"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 22, 2026 \u2014 7:30pm<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

Buffer zones to keep data centres at least 150 metres from homes have arrived too late to stop three so-called hyper-scale projects in Melbourne\u2019s west, exempting developers who lodged plans before Labor tightened the rules.<\/p>\n

Premier Ben Carroll revealed on Tuesday Labor\u2019s policy to ban data centres near homes<\/a>, while also introducing new power, water and community investment standards for developers.<\/p>\n

\"NextDC\u2019sNextDC\u2019s West Footscray data centre. New rules to stop data centres being built closer than 150 metres from homes won\u2019t affect the project\u2019s coming stages.Joe Armao<\/p>\n

But the changes will not be retrospective. Projects already under way or which have lodged planning applications will be unaffected by them \u2013 including a data centre about 60 metres from homes. Projects yet to be approved must still be approved under existing planning rules.<\/p>\n

At least three proposed data centre projects will breach the government\u2019s 150-metre buffer, in communities which have protested against the AI infrastructure and raised concerns about noise, pollution and other impacts.<\/p>\n

The Department of Planning and Transport is accepting public submissions over an application by Australian data centre giant NextDC to expand its West Footscray facility<\/a>, with more computing infrastructure to be built adjacent to homes. The land the data centre sits on, zoned industrial and adjacent to a residential zone, once had small factories and warehouses on it.<\/p>\n

Developer GreenSquare has also lodged an application to build a data centre in Spotswood<\/a> which would breach the government\u2019s 150-metre buffer \u2013 even though it is proposed for badly contaminated land that once housed Mobil\u2019s fuel storage tanks.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe site of the proposed GreenSquare data centre in Spotswood was once Mobil\u2019s main Melbourne fuel terminal.Joe Armao<\/p>\n

A planning report for the project<\/a> notes that houses are \u201cmore than 60 metres away and separated by the [Werribee] railway corridor, ensuring that the development will not result in unacceptable amenity impacts\u201d.<\/p>\n

Resident Jacqui Glover\u2019s property boundary in West Footscray is just 15 metres from the edge of the sprawling NextDC data centre, which began construction in 2021 after initial approval by Maribyrnong City Council. The data centre will eventually fill almost the entire 10-hectare block.<\/p>\n

Glover said while she welcomed the new rules, \u201cit\u2019s too little, too late for us in Tottenham and West Footscray\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another planned data centre<\/a>, on land owned by the Scalzo family that sits just 200 metres to the east of the NextDC campus, was approved by the state government last year. It too faces onto housing in the same street as Glover, but will also be unaffected by the new rules.<\/p>\n

\"JacquiJacqui Glover, pictured in February, says the changes are too little, too late for people like her.Justin McManus <\/p>\n

\u201cIf Labor genuinely believes in these proposed guidelines they should be applied to every data centre development,\u201d Glover said.<\/p>\n

She said the 150-metre rule would not help when data centres ran their back-up generators, which generally run off diesel fuel stored on site. \u201cDiesel emissions aren\u2019t going to just stop 150 metres away from homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

The premier said the changes would prevent suburban streets being transformed by multi-level data centres, while also allowing Victoria to capitalise on the economic benefits brought by AI\u2019s rapid expansion.<\/p>\n

Asked if the changes were coming too late to protect neighbourhood character, Carroll said no.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a premier that gives certainty to industry. So applications that were made under the old rules will proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government intends to strengthen the regulations before it enters caretaker mode from November 3 in the lead-up to the state election, but Carroll could not offer certainty that the changes would be locked in by then.<\/p>\n

The new requirements, outlined in Labor\u2019s Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan, will also enforce guidelines for water and energy use and air and noise pollution.<\/p>\n

They come as global tensions over AI increase. Industry chiefs and world leaders have warned that the technology\u2019s growth may outpace governments\u2019 ability to regulate it, and that it could cause human extinction.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

At the United Nations this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a joint declaration <\/a>calling for international oversight of AI models. On Wednesday, a federal inquiry into the technology will hold its first public hearings in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

CDC Data Centres welcomed on Tuesday the state government\u2019s plan, and chief executive Greg Boorer said clear guidelines would help comfort investors considering making funding decisions. He said discussions about data centres were no longer just about planning but were \u201cfundamentally a conversation about Australia\u2019s digital future and the infrastructure required to support it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"CDCCDC Data Centres chief executive Greg Boorer.Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

\u201cAs one of Australia\u2019s most important data centre regions, the policy settings adopted by Victoria have an important role to play in supporting investment, innovation and Australia\u2019s long-term digital capability,\u201d Boorer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities want confidence that the organisations developing and operating critical infrastructure are responsible contributors to the places where they invest.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Data Centres Australia, an advocacy group representing developers, technology companies and other related businesses, criticised the decision to include 150-metre buffer zones.<\/p>\n

Chief executive Belinda Dennett said operators already supported most aspects of the government\u2019s rules, but the setback requirements would hurt projects where investments had already been committed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is disappointing to see Victoria, the state that recognised the economic opportunity to attract data centre investment and proudly declared its ambition to be a global data centre leader, now move to impose requirements on data centres that apply to no comparable industrial use,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dennett said data centres were already restricted to industrial land, and individual projects had to go through environment and planning approvals.<\/p>\n

She said the 150-metre setback added a restriction that warehouses and logistics hubs did not have to meet, and that industrial land was already scarce.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can render an otherwise suitable site unviable,\u201d Dennett said.<\/p>\n

She also said the government\u2019s faster approval process, the Development Facilitation Program, had recently not been making decisions on applications under the government\u2019s old rules, leading to a \u201cde facto freeze\u201d that would force developers to spend elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Artificial Intelligence Minister Anthony Carbines said setting clear regulations would give businesses certainty and Victoria a competitive edge over other states.<\/p>\n

Related\"Data<\/a><\/p>\n

But Liberal frontbencher James Newbury said Carroll could not be trusted to regulate data centres, pointing to the suburban projects which ignited community protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery Victorian can look on and see the track record of what they\u2019ve allowed and the places they\u2019ve allowed it to be built, and feel unfortunately certain that that would continue under a Labor government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Greens said the government\u2019s policy was a major retreat that had come after pressure from communities. But the party\u2019s data centres spokeswoman, Sarah Mansfield, said noise could still be experienced from beyond 150 metres, and called on Labor to show the modelling for why that distance was chosen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also a glaring hole in this announcement: what happens to the people already living next to these massive data centres?\u201d she said. \u201cLabor can\u2019t admit these facilities need a buffer and then abandon the residents already living inside it. Big tech should pay to compensate those communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"AngusAngus Delaney<\/a> is a state political reporter at The Age. Email him at angus.delaney@theage.com.au or contact him securely on Signal at angusdelaney.31Connect via email<\/a>.\"ClayClay Lucas<\/a> is an investigative reporter at The Age who has covered urban affairs, state and federal politics, industrial relations, transport, health and aged care. Email him at clucas@theage.com.au or claylucas@protonmail.com, or via Signal +61439828128.Connect via X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 22, 2026 \u2014 7:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":901340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-901339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}