Councils look for guidance from state on data centre applications

A councillor in Perth's northern suburbs attempted to ban data centres but the proposal fell short by four votes. The councillor, Suzanne Migdale, expressed concerns about air quality, noise, water stress, and public health impacts associated with large data centres. However, there are currently no applications for data centres in Stirling.

Planners and local government leaders argue that there is a need for more explicit guidelines on data centres. Currently, data centres are not a defined use of land in any planning scheme in Western Australia, leading to challenges in assessing applications. Planners typically classify them as warehouses or industrial land use, or as uses not listed, which could allow them to be approved in any zone within a local planning scheme.

Belinda Moharich, a planning lawyer and town planner, emphasized the importance of clearer regulations and guidance from the state government. She suggested that data centres vary greatly in size and impact, from smaller centers within city buildings to large campuses covering hectares of land. She advocated for the state government to issue regulations on how to assess planning applications for data centres to provide local governments with the proper tools to manage this emerging land use.

Gosnells Mayor Terresa Lynes, who chairs the National Growth Areas Alliance, shared her council's experience with approving a $415 million, 200-megawatt data centre in Maddington last year. The council has since developed a policy addressing environmental requirements, such as closed loop water systems, noise reduction, and efficient heat dissipation. Lynes expressed support for more data centres and believed that local governments should have a say in their placement rather than attempting to ban them outright.