{"id":909327,"date":"2026-09-29T03:40:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T03:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/909327\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T03:40:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T03:40:18","slug":"sydney-data-centres-goodman-group-abandons-lane-cove-project-mars-amid-artificial-intelligence-infrastructure-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/909327\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney data centres: Goodman Group abandons Lane Cove Project Mars amid artificial intelligence infrastructure concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated September 29, 2026 \u2014 11:05am,first published September 29, 2026 \u2014 8:07am<\/p>\n

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An industrial property giant\u2019s plan for a hyperscale data centre on Sydney\u2019s north shore has been abandoned after outrage among residents, in a case that has become a flashpoint for the spread of artificial intelligence infrastructure across the country.<\/p>\n

Goodman Group had placed state-significant plans for the construction and 24\/7 operation of an $800 million, 81-megawatt data centre on public exhibition in March, which would have required the demolition and excavation of four existing warehouses.<\/p>\n

\"AA concept view of the data centre\u2019s facade from Mars Road, Lane Cove.Urbis<\/p>\n

In a letter to the NSW government on Monday, Goodman\u2019s head of planning Guy Smith confirmed it was withdrawing the application and cited \u201cemerging federal and state policy\u201d as among the reasons for abandoning the development.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this time, the policy and regulatory environment for large-scale data centre development has evolved significantly,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoodman has carefully considered these changes together with feedback received through the planning process, including the views of the local community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposal not only sparked backlash from residents: utility providers Sydney Water and Ausgrid were concerned the development would strain existing infrastructure and increase electrocution or fire risks.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Goodman Group was also asked about the proposal at a federal senate inquiry into data centres and artificial intelligence last week, but the appearance of senior leaders via audiovisual link was plagued by technical problems. At the time, Liberal senator Sarah Henderson said Goodman\u2019s proposal was \u201cwholly unreasonable, and frankly a grossly irresponsible proposal which shows contempt for local residents\u201d.<\/p>\n

The 28-metre-tall \u201cProject Mars\u201d data centre would have been located within the Lane Cove West industrial area, which is bordered by a park, low-density homes 50 metres to the east, and Lane Cove West Public School about 160 metres north-east of the site.<\/p>\n

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

In a letter to the planning department in May, Ausgrid raised issues about the compatibility of the data centre with existing infrastructure, requiring \u201cdue consideration be given \u2026 particularly in relation to risks of electrocution, fire risks\u201d, citing other noise and visual amenity impacts.<\/p>\n

Lane Cove Responsible Planning spokesperson Sasha Titchkosky said she was in disbelief and felt \u201cecstatic\u201d after hearing plans were withdrawn.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The community] is just overjoyed. It\u2019s a mixture of happiness and relief. It\u2019s been really energising to see we can actually make a difference if they band together and really work together to achieve an outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Titchkosky hoped Goodman\u2019s backflip would set a precedent for the industry to \u201cproperly consider what they\u2019re expecting people to live with\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t really take us to raise the issues that should be built into regulations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

There is another major data centre planned for Lane Cove \u2013 AirTrunk is seeking approval to build \u201cMars Road\u201d, a 37-metre-tall, 140-megawatt data centre between Apollo Place and Mars Road.<\/p>\n

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

Data centres are large, energy-intensive facilities requiring uninterrupted power and a constant supply of potable water to cool servers. At capacity, Goodman had anticipated Project Mars would have used about 35 litres of water per second during peak times and about 1.4 million litres per day.<\/p>\n

Sydney Water said in a submission it was \u201cunable to support progression\u201d of the data centre without more detailed planning assessments of water demand and wastewater impacts. The state-owned corporation said Project Mars would have heaped pressure on the existing drinking water system, which in its view had \u201climited capacity to service the development\u201d.<\/p>\n

Both utility providers\u2019 doubts illustrate a pattern of concerns that emerge when data centre developments outpace upgrades to critical infrastructure, strained by population growth and climate change. The global AI boom has boosted demand for data centres with greater capacity in Sydney: there are 41 state-significant projects across the city in the development pipeline, of which 18 have been approved.<\/p>\n

Lane Cove Mayor Merri Southwood welcomed the outcome and has called for a moratorium on the construction of all future data centres in the local government area until NSW planning laws are in place to protect residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need data centres, but this one was totally in the wrong location \u2013 it was right next to a house, very close to schools and would have come at a huge cost for the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a moratorium until planning legislation and protections including noise, power, water and emission standards are in place because at the moment data centres are popping up like mushrooms before the regulations are in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

MP Anthony Roberts, who has been staunchly opposing data centres in his seat of Lane Cove, said Goodman\u2019s withdrawal was a \u201ccommonsense win\u201d for the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis victory sends a clear message to other data centre developers. To find suitable locations before putting proposals forward. Data centres have an important role to play, but developments of this size and scale need to be appropriately located and planned with the surrounding community in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"CindyCindy Yin<\/a> is an urban affairs reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.\"JessicaJessica McSweeney<\/a> is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald covering state politics and urban affairs.Connect via email<\/a>.\"DavidDavid Barwell<\/a> is an urban affairs reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated September 29, 2026 \u2014 11:05am,first published September 29, 2026 \u2014 8:07am Save You have reached your maximum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":909328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-909327","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\/909327","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=909327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/909328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=909327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=909327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=909327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}