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In the battle between data centres and NSW residents, the humans have claimed a victory.
An application for a data centre to be built in the heart of the Blue Mountains is set to be withdrawn following an outcry from residents and councillors.
The $4.8 million development application, part of a wave of data centres planned for NSW, was lodged with the Blue Mountains City Council in April. It proposed a data centre to be built on Barton Street in North Katoomba – on a residential street, next to a park, and a block from a school.
The proposal garnered significant backlash as community activists described the development as a “threat to peace”, with 24/7 low-frequency noise intrusion among other concerns. Locals expressed concern for pressures on electricity and water supplies, potential PFAS exposure and insufficient bushfire protections.
MAK Urban Group general manager Mohammad Hammoud confirmed this week the developer would be withdrawing the application.
“We remain confident that data centre infrastructure can deliver significant economic, employment and digital connectivity benefits to regional communities,” he said in a statement.
“However, throughout the assessment process we have listened closely to the views expressed by local residents, community groups and other stakeholders … Rather than continue with the current application, we have chosen to step back and undertake further consideration of the proposal.”
The state government has been keen to attract data centres to NSW. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey told the Herald in March the state would position itself as a destination for global data centre investments.
“If we get this right, what it means is NSW gets access to some of the world’s best technology for our economy, but we also are getting industry to pay for some of the capital investment that otherwise consumers would have to pay to fund the renewables transition,” Mookhey said at the time. “That’s the opportunity we are trying to seize.”
Mayor Mark Greenhill said the idea of such a development in the Blue Mountains, a city contained within a World Heritage site, was “diabolical”.
Greenhill says that the withdrawal is a victory for the community. “This is a welcome, mature reflection from the applicant. I am heartened to hear that the views of the community matter to them,” he said.
“Anything that threatens the local environment in Blue Mountains will raise the ire of our community and of the council.”
Jackie Manners, who played a key role in resisting the proposal, described the news of the application’s withdrawal as waking up from a nightmare.
“We’ve been fighting this force that we didn’t know we would be able to stop and this horrible feeling that … it would change the whole of our little village.”
Hammoud did not rule out the possibility of a future development application.
“Should a revised concept be pursued in the future, we are committed to engaging with the community at an early stage and incorporating that feedback into the design and development process before any future proposal is finalised,” he said.
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