AirTrunk Abandons A$1B Sydney Data Centre; Stockland Drops Cooks River Plan
AirTrunk has scrapped plans for a A$1 billion data centre in Sydney's Lane Cove West, citing steep terrain. Separately, Stockland and John Boyd Properties have removed a data centre from their Kogarah logistics precinct. The retreats follow community opposition and a NSW parliamentary inquiry callin
Blackstone-controlled AirTrunk has abandoned plans for a 140-megawatt data centre in Sydney’s Lane Cove West that planning filings valued at A$1 billion ($689 million), making it the second developer to walk away from a data centre project in a suburb where residents have campaigned against the facilities for months.
“Following due diligence of the Mars Road site, its steep terrain and limited scale make it technically unsuitable for the type of facilities our customers need,” an AirTrunk spokesperson said on Monday. “We’re focusing on better-suited sites, including Kurri Kurri in NSW and Mickleham in Victoria.” The spokesperson said AirTrunk’s work in Lane Cove is now limited to completing its SYD2 campus and the approved Apollo Place development next door.
Listed developer Stockland and its partner John Boyd Properties have also dropped a data centre from their plans for the former Kogarah Golf Club near Sydney Airport. The joint venture plans to build a A$3.5 billion logistics precinct on the site, beside the Cooks River. “Stockland and John Boyd Properties are focused on the development of a world class logistics precinct which does not include a data centre as part of the amended Concept Masterplan,” a Stockland spokesperson said on Monday. 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.
The retreats became public in the same week that a New South Wales parliamentary committee called for tougher rules on data centres, and add to signs that local opposition is putting at risk hyperscale operators’ plans to build capacity close to customers in Australia’s largest cities. In September, Goodman Group withdrew its Project Mars data centre on the same Lane Cove West street, and NextDC last month cut its earnings guidance after protests stalled a power line upgrade at its main Melbourne campus.
The difficult terrain that AirTrunk cites was set out in the project’s filings. In March, consultant Willowtree Planning asked the state planning department for assessment requirements for a five-storey, 37.4-metre facility. The 15,044 square metre (161,932 square foot) site covers 3-4 Apollo Place and 87-91 Mars Road. The request noted that the ground falls by about 20 metres from east to west across the site, and the building would have needed a variation to exceed the area’s 18-metre height limit. The scheme also called for about 120 standby diesel generators and a connection to Ausgrid’s Lane Cove switching station. A pre-application form lodged with the department put the estimated development cost at A$1 billion.
At Kogarah, the concept application covers five blocks of up to 70 metres in height. It is now at the response-to-submissions stage, and the planning portal lists 655 public submissions. A residents’ group called Stop the Cooks River AI Project had protested against the data centre since August, citing risks to the river’s ecology as well as the facility’s power and water use. Stockland formed the 50:50 venture with John Boyd Properties last year, after the state rezoned the 18.3-hectare site. The partners expect works to begin in 2027.
Goodman withdrew Project Mars, a A$798 million proposal, on 28 September. The building would have stood about 20 metres from the nearest house, and the application drew 374 public submissions, only nine of them supportive. In Melbourne, electricity distributor Jemena suspended parts of a power line upgrade for NextDC’s 225MW M3 campus in West Footscray after protests from residents. NextDC removed A$140 million of contracted revenue from its guidance and paused all new development and land acquisitions. Its shares fell 41.7 per cent on 21 October.
On 5 November, the NSW Upper House Public Accountability and Works Committee published its report with 26 recommendations. They include giving greater weight to cumulative impacts in planning decisions, creating a public register of proposed and approved data centres, and legally requiring facilities to supply 100 per cent renewable power. The report included a case study on Lane Cove. It also records that in April, Lane Cove Council asked for all data centre applications in its area to be suspended until the inquiry’s findings were published. Victoria has proposed a 150-metre buffer between data centres and homes.
