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David vs Goliath in Hazelmere: Why tech giants keep targeting Perth's east. October 16, 2026 - 3:05am Article gifting is here Give anyone free access to subscriber-only stories when you subscribe. Fresh off driving a $600 million data centre out of Perth's east, Hazelmere residents are girding for a second battle as another tech giant sets its sights on their neighborhood. Five months after GreenSquareDC was forced to withdraw its application for a $600 million data centre near the banks of the Helena River due to public outcry, a Canberra-based developer hopes to have more luck. Canberra Data Centres (CDC) is looking to build a $337 million four-storey centre at 178 and 196 Bushmead Road around two kilometres from the proposed GreenSquareDC site. Public consultation for the proposal opened this week, with plans posted to the City of Swan's website showing the development would take up 85,945sqm and comprise 87 parking bays. A maximum of 75 people will be on site at any one time, the proposal explains, and the facility will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A petition was submitted to change.org by local Melita McDonald on September 30 and requested the City to ensure the proposal was subject to "comprehensive, independent assessment and meaningful community consultation before any approval is granted." "We ask that the long-term interests of nearby residents, the surrounding community, the Helena River, wetlands, waterways, native wildlife, threatened and endangered species and the broader environment are properly protected and considered," the petition reads. "We call for comprehensive independent assessment, transparency, meaningful community consultation and appropriate enforceable conditions to address the potential impacts of this development and all associated infrastructure." So far 53 people have signed the petition, but if history proves anything, people power makes a big difference for data centres in Hazelmere. From our partners. When GreenSquareDC submitted their data centre plans, the City received a total of 1890 submissions regarding the proposal, with 1829 people opposing the development. The proposal by Sydney-based company would have seen a three-storey facility built next to the Helena River Waldorf School, on two Aboriginal heritage sites and approximately 40 metres from the Helena River channel. Public outcry against the proposal planned for lots 14 and 15 on Stirling Crescent was aired at several City of Swan council meetings, with concerns around environmental impacts, noise pollution and cultural insensitivity. Trillion Trees were one of the organisations against the first data centre proposal and have been equally as vocal about their concerns for CDC's plans. "Development of this land will mean the loss of one of the last remaining pockets of significant remnant vegetation on private land in Hazelmere," reads a Trillion Trees press release. "Connected corridors of vegetation through urban areas are critical for the survival of native wildlife species already under threat, including Carnaby's black cockatoos and snake necked turtles." The press release says the community has many wide-ranging concerns about the development including canopy loss, wetland loss, scale, and proximity to homes. They are urging people - locals or not - to voice their concerns over the proposal. City of Swan has advised people submitting comments on the proposal that they are not the decision maker for the application. "The application will be determined by the Metro Outer Development Assessment Panel (MODAP) due to the value of the proposed works," a City spokesperson said. Submissions for public comment will close on November 5.

CDC Data Centres told not to take Wagga Wagga for granted over mega plan. Posted about 5h ago In short: Residents in Wagga Wagga have started a petition to halt development of a $15 billion data centre campus outside the town. CDC Data Centres plans to acquire 100 hectares to build the proposed 1.4-gigawatt facility. What's next? The proponent has submitted a scoping report and has two years to develop an environmental impact statement once the state government sets the guidelines. When residents of the NSW city of Wagga Wagga learnt one of the country's largest data centres was proposed for down the road, they had questions. For resident Liz Warrell, the biggest was: how does it benefit her community? "It's a big box; it sits there," she said. "I don't know if it generates employment, I know it's using resources and I know it's creating emissions. "So what effect is that having on us as a community as our climate dries?" CDC Data Centres is proposing to build a $15 billion campus on a 100-hectare council-owned site next to the city's landfill. If approved, the 1.4-gigawatt facility is expected to consume more electricity each year than a million typical NSW homes. Just 4 kilometres from the proposed site, Eden Summers is also worried her peaceful rural lifestyle is at risk. "Government likes to take action on big business projects without actually thinking of the locals," Ms Summers said. The land CDC is eyeing for the project is currently zoned for primary production use, but the company proposes to change the zoning. "We have restrictions on what we can do on our land, but then when it comes to big business, everything changes; there's just no consistency," Ms Summers said. "People feel backstabbed." A petition to halt the development, started by Ms Summers, has attracted more than 1,000 signatures and states locals "should not have to sacrifice our rural community for a data centre". "If it was on land designated for this sort of project, opposition wouldn't be as strong," she said. "But the land we are on, and the environment, is not appropriate." Other residents cautiously open to plan. However, some Wagga residents, like Katrina Walker, think the site, 15 kilometres from the city's centre, made sense. "If it's out at Gregadoo, that's a fair way out, so I think it'd be OK," she said. So far, only a scoping report that provides an overview of the proposed state significant development has been made publicly available. Advocacy group Committee 4 Wagga has cautiously welcomed the proposal, having campaigned previously for more industry in the city. But co-chair Richard Pottie said support for the centre would depend on the details. "We can't take on the 'not in our backyard' philosophy," he said. "If there are lots of cons, we need to address it; if there are lots of pros, we need to endorse the project and make the most of it." Calls for information on water and power usage. The first community consultation sessions will be held in Wagga on Wednesday and Thursday next week. Once the state government releases its State Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) for the project, CDC will have two years to submit an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The full outline of the data centre's electricity infrastructure needs, as well as a noise and vibration assessment and a water management plan, will be included in that EIS. A CDC spokesperson said that in the proposed centre's first stage of operation, it was estimated that 1.28 million litres of water, or the equivalent water use of seven households, would be needed for an "initial fill". "CDC typically undertakes this from rainwater collected onsite, with a backup from water trucks or, depending on local conditions, town water," the spokesperson said. The company said on an ongoing basis, the first stage of the project was expected to consume as much water as a typical office building. "Gerard Roofs estimate its annual water consumption to be approximately 1,512,000 litres per year. "The town water usage is estimated to be equivalent of a little less than nine Australian households." Meanwhile, CDC said once completed, the 1.4-gigawatt campus was expected to run at between 40 and 60 per cent of its maximum capacity, depending on customer needs. The company estimated that would be the equivalent of 5-7 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually. According to household usage data from the Australian Energy Regulator, this is the equivalent annual consumption of between 1 and 1.5 million NSW homes. CDC's website stated the project "could bring hundreds of new jobs during construction and ongoing skilled employment opportunities once operational". Community consultation vital. Independent Member for Wagga Wagga Joe McGirr said lessons learnt during the state's renewable energy rollout need to be applied during the community consultation process. "You can't take the community for granted," he said. "You don't just come and pretend there's no one here. "You've got to genuinely engage with the community, you've got to address community concerns, and you've got to make sure communities get benefits." Dr McGirr said he had spoken with CDC about the project and toured one of the company's data centres in Sydney. "It was quite impressive from a safety and water point of view," he said. "The technology doesn't use a lot of water; they recirculate all the water. It's an Australian technology, built, as I understand, for our conditions." The importance of community consultation has been echoed by the Wagga Business Chamber. "We want to make sure that they're not just ticking a box," business manager Sally Manning said. While Eden Summer acknowledged that it could be years before the data centre was approved, she was in opposition for the long haul. "We're surrounded by people that want to fight."