on LinkedIn<\/a> and said the speed and the scale of its expansion were \u201cstunning\u201d.<\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019re building Australia\u2019s largest hyperscale AI factory purpose-built for the new AI era of accelerated computing,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThis is how we build Australia\u2019s digital future: speed, scale, sovereign, sustainable & secure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia is under pressure to compete in the growing datacentre industry amid the promises of an AI boom. New investments are hailed as vital downpayments on the country\u2019s economic future.<\/p>\n
But those living closest to these massive new data halls feel that their neighbourhood peace is being sacrificed on the altar of progress.<\/p>\n
Guardian Australia spoke to residents in three states about their concerns, which are emblematic of the growing opposition to these developments across the country. Those living closest to datacentres argue they should be moved further away from residential areas in the country\u2019s biggest cities.<\/p>\n
The M3 datacentre is \u201cjust a really inappropriate location for what is pretty much [an] intensive industrial building,\u201d Brown says. \u201cIt\u2019s right next to people\u2019s houses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown says the original zoning decisions did not take into account the sheer scale of the datacentres.<\/p>\n
Blackman Park oval in West Lane Cove. A new NextDC datacentre development proposal would put a campus right next door. Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/Th Guardian<\/p>\n
He works in the tech sector, and understands the need for datacentres. But he argues the datacentre boom needs to be planned better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like they\u2019ve just gone: \u2018Let\u2019s just maximise this and don\u2019t even consider the impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for NextDC says the project is being delivered in accordance with local and state government processes and regulatory requirements, and it has processes in place to \u201cmanage and respond to feedback\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Maribyrnong local council has expressed its opposition to the expansion, but it is now awaiting planning approval from the Victorian government.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Victorian planning minister, Sonia Kilkenny, said the proposal to expand the datacentre was under consideration and it would be inappropriate to comment further.<\/p>\n
Council \u2018sidelined\u2019<\/p>\n
Near Lane Cove River, 9km from the Sydney CBD, a proposal for a new 90MW datacentre named Project Mars is now being considered by the NSW government. It would be the fourth in the area: datacentres take up 40% of local industrial zones.<\/p>\n
The council argues the nearly 22,000sqm, three-storey centre exceeds height limitations and would be visually prominent next to bushland and residential zones.<\/p>\n
Daniel Bolger, a Lane Cove resident, says there are community concerns over the proximity of the proposed datacentre to schools. Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/Th Guardian<\/p>\n
Local resident Daniel Bolger says it will sit next to what he calls \u201cthe lungs of Lane Cove: Blackman Park.<\/p>\n
It used to be a tip, but was turned into a park and sporting hub \u201cused by 50% of the suburb\u201d each weekend, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Now] they\u2019re going to put datacentres right next to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the council has been sidelined, and there are community concerns over the proximity to schools of the centres being developed, and the pure power draw.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the cluster issue,\u201d Bolger says.<\/p>\n
The NSW planning minister, Paul Scully, says the public are encouraged to have their say during the consultation and a full merit-based assessment, including an assessment of energy needs, will be conducted before a decision is made.<\/p>\n
An aerial shot of Lane Cove with the location of the proposed datacentre highlighted in green. Other existing datacentres are also highlighted. Illustration: Lane Cove council<\/p>\n
\u201cDatacentres are an important part of the infrastructure and digital architecture of modern economies,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The developer, Goodman Property, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s huge\u2019<\/p>\n
In Hazelmere, 15km east of Perth in Western Australia, community opposition is growing to a planned 15,000sqm, three-storey, up-to 120MW datacentre.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s huge. Bigger than a Bunnings warehouse,\u201d Kate Herren, a local resident and a fundraising coordinator for the environmental group Trillion Trees Australia, says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe location we feel is wholly unsuitable for a proposal of [this] size and scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walter McGuire, chair of the Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Association, says the Noongar people have a role and responsibility to care for the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River).<\/p>\n
The Helena River, near the site of a proposed datacentre in Hazelmere, WA. \u2018We have grave concerns about its impact on the river and the surrounding ecosystem,\u2019 says Walter McGuire, chair of the Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Association. Photograph: Trillion Trees<\/p>\n
\u201cGiant datacentres belong in industrial areas, not on the banks of our rivers and wetlands,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It] is a culturally significant river, and the wetlands that surround it \u2026 So we have grave concerns about its impact on the river and the surrounding ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposal is now before the council. A spokesperson for the City of Swan said it was unable to comment.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for GreenSquareDC, the company behind the project, said it was in an established industrial area with major transport and power infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe clearly understand there is interest in this proposal given its proximity to existing businesses and the local school,\u201d the spokesperson says. \u201cThese considerations are taken seriously, and GreenSquare is committed to engaging constructively throughout the planning process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Critical infrastructure\u2019 in industrial zones<\/p>\n
Data Centres Australia\u2019s chief executive, Belinda Dennett, says the industry is aware that construction of these centres can be confronting \u201cparticularly where industrial zoned land meets with residential areas\u201d, but maintains developers meet strict environmental and building standards, and were seeking to minimise disruption.<\/p>\n
She says Australia has a \u201csignificant opportunity\u201d to benefit from datacentre investment, through new businesses and jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese benefits will flow to the local communities that neighbour datacentres too.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Friday, she told a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the sector that if Australia does not develop its own AI infrastructure, it will become \u201can importer of someone else\u2019s technology, that has no Australian culture, values or laws built into that\u201d.<\/p>\n
The alternative, she said: \u201cwe build that here and we have some say [and] control over what that looks like\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When West Footscray resident Sean Brown takes his 19-month-old boy to the park, their walk passes an imposing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[345,343,344,85,46,125],"class_list":["post-422451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}