Stockland has dropped an AI data centre from its planned logistics precinct on the Cooks River at Arncliffe in southern Sydney, and the project will now proceed without one. Stockland and partner John Boyd Properties had planned to turn the rezoned 18.3-hectare former Kogarah Golf Club site into a logistics precinct estimated at $3.5 billion with the data centre included.
A Stockland spokesperson said the partners are now focused on a logistics precinct that does not include a data centre, under an amended Concept Masterplan. The company pointed to the site's position near Sydney Airport and Port Botany as a fit for a logistics hub, with potential for retail and hospitality.
The amended plan still includes a one-kilometre public foreshore link along the Cooks River, the future 14-hectare Pemulwuy Park, local road upgrades and improved active transport links. Stockland said it will keep engaging with stakeholders as the project moves through the next planning stage.
Key facts
- 01Stockland and John Boyd Properties dropped the AI data centre from their Cooks River logistics precinct at Arncliffe, Sydney.
- 02The rezoned 18.3-hectare former Kogarah Golf Club site was an estimated $3.5B project with the data centre included.
- 03The amended plan keeps a 1-kilometre public foreshore link and the future 14-hectare Pemulwuy Park.
- 04Data centre proposals in Lane Cove and Guildford were also dropped, Guildford in September.
- 05The NSW government has until February to respond to a parliamentary inquiry report on data centres.
The data centre component drew organised opposition. A residents' group, Stop the Cooks River AI Project, formed in August and says it has hundreds of members. Group organiser Paddy Gibson called Stockland's decision a "very good win for people power."
“People really love this river and we're just horrified to hear that it could be threatened in this way”— Paddy Gibson, Organiser, Stop the Cooks River AI Project
Gibson said the river, known as Goolay'yari in local Indigenous languages, is recovering from industrialisation and that remediation work is underway. He also raised the facility's expected power use and the possibility of water contamination.
“There's endangered plants and other animal species in the green space”— Paddy Gibson, Organiser, Stop the Cooks River AI Project
Bayside councillor Peter Strong, who led the council's opposition to the plan, called the decision "very heartening." He cited energy and water use and noise, and said the outcome showed councils should have more of a veto over data centre approvals.
Canterbury MP Sophie Cotsis said she is looking forward to the revised masterplan, including the foreshore link and road upgrades. She pointed to the state government's Cooks River Consolidation Project, which was set up to resolve long-standing land tenure issues along the river.
Stockland's move follows other withdrawn data centre proposals in Sydney. A proposed data centre in Lane Cove was dropped, as was one in Guildford in September. In Merrylands, residents are opposing Goodman Group's $1.1 billion Project Pluto data centre, a state-significant development approved in July; Goodman says it sent correspondence to more than 1,200 homes and businesses three times.
Other Australian data centre developers have hit similar friction. In October, NEXTDC put development plans on hold after opposition delayed power supply to a major Melbourne project, and Firmus Grid shelved a planned stock market listing after failing to draw enough investor support for a proposed $30 billion valuation.
Stop the Cooks River AI Project said it will keep campaigning against the riverfront logistics hub and for a ban on new AI data centres.
In August, the Minns government released a data centre policy framework that it says balances household interests with investment in New South Wales. A report following a parliamentary inquiry into data centres found guidelines should have been in place before fast-track planning processes were developed for these projects, and the government has until February to respond.
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