Sydney councils fear new datacentres could cause blackouts, block housing and affect locals’ health

Datacentres ‘directly competing’ with possible residential builds near public transport, one council tells NSW inquiry, amid growing concerns Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Datacentre developments are crowding out opportunities for housing and job-rich industries across Sydney, a New South Wales inquiry has heard, with one local council reporting a rise in blackouts linked to the industry’s expansion. Several Sydney councils, all facing an influx of datacentre developments, have raised concerns about the health, environmental and amenity impacts on their local communities in submissions to the state’s datacentre inquiry. Lane Cove Council, on Sydney’s northern shore, expressed “concern about brownouts and blackouts increasing in Lane Cove West since the expansion of datacentres”. The council said the noise generated by datacentres could also be “offensive and disruptive” for local residents and wildlife, and raised health concerns related to the industry’s use of back-up diesel generators. The City of Ryde, also in northern Sydney, said a cluster of twelve datacentres in Macquarie Park was “directly competing with opportunities for