Cooks River AI data centre scrapped after local outcry

A proposal to build an AI data centre on the banks of the Cooks River has been scrapped, becoming the latest casualty of community opposition to the energy-intensive artificial intelligence industry.

Stockland said on Saturday that it would remove the AI data centre from its plans to redevelop Kogarah Golf Course.

The $12 billion company had proposed transforming the golf course into one of Sydney’s largest logistics and technology precincts, including warehouses, commercial facilities, restaurants and a four-storey, 25,400-square-metre data centre.

But the data centre has been removed from its revised proposal after protests by the Stop the Cooks River AI Project (SCRAP).

“This is an important victory for people power,” SCRAP organiser Paddy Gibson said.

“Stockland’s backdown serves as yet another warning to political leaders at the federal and state level that are rolling out the red carpet for US tech bros. Local communities will not accept their obscene plans to make Australia the second home for power- and water-guzzling AI data centres.”

A Stockland spokesperson confirmed the masterplan no longer included a data centre. The company maintains the business decision was based on prioritising the logistics hub over the data centre.

“The site is on the doorstep of Sydney Airport and in close proximity to Port Botany and major transport infrastructure, making it uniquely suited for a logistics hub and has potential for mixed uses, like retail and hospitality,” the spokesman said.

Canterbury MP Sophie Cotsis told SCRAP organisers about the changes to the Stockland proposal at a community forum on Saturday afternoon.

“We look forward to seeing the revised masterplan which will include a public foreshore link along the Cooks River, local road upgrades and improved active transport connections,” she said.

SCRAP has called for a ban on all new data centres and is planning to target other AI-backed development proposals in Sydney.

The growing community backlash will be a challenge for the state and federal governments as they attempt to manage local concerns with the potential economic windfall of the burgeoning AI industry. Goodman Group axed plans for a $1.2 billion data centre in Lane Cove in September. A separate 140-megawatt data centre in Lane Cove was also withdrawn this week.

Data centres are used to process the huge amounts of information now required by AI models, including petabytes (1000 terabytes) of video, images and text each day used to generate answers, recognise patterns and create new content for multinational giants including Google, Apple and Anthropic.

The high levels of data processing required to handle these requests mean the centres use up to 60 kilowatts per rack and require both liquid cooling and heavy energy infrastructure that can emit a continuous low-frequency hum into surrounding streets.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told The Australian Financial Review on Friday that AI data centres were a “real opportunity for the country” as the United States grapples with community revolt over data centre farms popping up in suburban neighbourhoods.

“What we are very mindful about here is that you’ve got to get the social licence right,” he said.

“It is about making sure that data centres … are built in the right places, not the wrong places. Building them in suburbs is the wrong place.”

The proposal was considered a state significant development, and the NSW planning department was overwhelmed by negative feedback: of the 665 submissions, 593 objected, three were in favour and the rest neutral. Bayside Council was among those to object, including to the height and scale, overshadowing Pemulwuy Park and uncertainty about the protection of five nearby Moreton Bay Fig trees.

A state parliamentary inquiry on Thursday said the government should plan for large-scale data centre development in precincts, supported by shared energy and water infrastructure, rather than as isolated developments.

The government’s Investment Delivery Authority has endorsed at least 15 data centre projects in NSW valued at $51.89 billion.

The state has more than 60 data centres already operating or under construction.

With Jessica McSweeney

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