Tasmania residents plan to appeal approval of AI data centre
Residents of northern Tasmania plan to challenge in the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT) the Georgetown Council’s conditional approval for the construction of a 288-megawatt artificial intelligence data centre at Bell Bay. Hundreds of local residents oppose the Firmus Technologies project, including Rowella community residents Anne-Marie Bastian and Niccola Thompson. They say the facility is planned less than two kilometres from their homes, ABC News Australia reports.
Appeal to the tribunal
Bastian is the president and Thompson is the secretary of the newly established Environmental Awareness Association. After receiving formal notification of the council’s decision, they have 14 days to find legal representation, raise funds and lodge an appeal with TASCAT. The activists estimate that the possible costs of the proceedings could amount to $20,000–$50,000.
Georgetown Council considered the application under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993. Mayor Greg Kieser said the local planning scheme provided no grounds other than to approve the project. He said he would have preferred for the facility to be considered by the state authorities as a project of state significance, but the planning minister said it did not meet the requirements for that procedure.
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Two more planned facilities
Firmus Technologies plans to build three AI data centres in northern Tasmania. A 104-megawatt facility is already under construction near Launceston. The company has also applied to build a 52-megawatt centre at Wesley Vale, east of Devonport.
Latrobe Council Mayor Peter Freshney said current legislation is not suited to considering complex technology projects with potentially significant environmental and economic impacts. Latrobe Council is expected to vote on the Wesley Vale application in October. Freshney plans to discuss with colleagues the possibility of asking Tasmania’s Planning Minister Kerry Vincent to consider granting the project major status. In that case, the decision would be made by the Tasmanian Planning Commission.
University of Tasmania management professor David Adams believes the 1993 act does not take into account the cumulative impact of several AI data centres, or the possible effects of such facilities on water supply, energy supply and energy prices.
