Grim-looking data centres are popping up around the country with more on the way… and Aussies are not happy

Australians have slammed the growing number of data centres being built, with 250 set to be operating around the country over the next few years.

One hundred and sixty centres are already up and running, with 90 more planned, making Australia the second-largest data centre investment destination in the world.

Complaints have been piling up, with residents fuming about the dystopian design, mammoth energy and water use, and noise pollution.

Two data centres in West Footscray have become a lightning rod, embodying everything locals say is wrong with the industry amid the artificial intelligence boom.

The first, on Indwe Street, features around 130 diesel back-up generators, stores 2.4million litres of fuel, and is close to a kindergarten, maternal health clinic and primary school. 

Nearby residents Sean Brown and Warisa Somsuphangsri claimed the centre appeared vastly different to what they were promised by NEXTDC chief executive Craig Scroggie.

‘He described a company “extremely focused on our impact on the environment” that builds “solar arrays and wind farms” and uses “kinetic energy rather than batteries to provide power”,’ they said. 

‘He promised a building of “very sympathetic design for the local residents”. 

‘The capacity approved that day was 13.5 megawatts, but what exists today is a 225-megawatt facility, 17 times that scale, with 40 confirmed diesel generators on site. 

‘This could rise to more than 100 if the current expansion is approved.’

They said residents living on the same street as the facility had complained about its noise.

‘Residents on Indwe Street have installed white noise machines throughout their homes,’ they said. 

‘One describes midnight as appearing like midday.’ 

The second facility, the Perri Melbourne Data Centre on McArthur Street, is also close to Kingsville Kindergarten and the Maternal and Child Health clinic. 

Although the site was assessed as not being in a bushfire‑prone area, Mr Brown and Mr Somsuphangsri claimed locals were left in the dark about the plans. 

‘The community was barely consulted and most residents did not know it was happening,’ they said.

As a result of the two centres, they said they had ‘lost ten hectares of industrial land less than ten kilometres from the Melbourne CBD.’

More data centres are planned for areas such as Plumpton in north-west Melbourne.

Western Metropolitan Region candidate Brittney Henderson said the site sat on a floodplain. 

‘I’m bloody horrified because [the area] is clearly a floodplain,’ she said in a video shared to social media.   

‘They’re going to put a giant slab of concrete right here and the people behind me in Sunbury are going to feel that. 

‘The people to my east, there’s a bunch of farming land, they’re going to feel that, and here in Melton, the people to my west are going to really feel the tangible effects of losing another floodplain in the west.’

Ms Henderson said wildlife and vegetation would also be affected.

‘There’s also a bunch of native grassland here and there’s clearly wombats,’ Ms Henderson said. 

‘There’s countless incredible artefacts that what, we’re gonna destroy in the name of AI? 

‘Oldest living culture in the world, for AI? To put everyone at risk in a once in a hundred year event flooding when we know that was happening once a month, for AI?’ 

The proposed centre, referred to as the ‘Victorian AI Hub’, is reported to cover about 350 hectares, the equivalent of 175 Melbourne Cricket Grounds.

It has a planned 2.4-gigawatt capacity, meaning it would require more than the state’s largest remaining coal plant Loy Yang A. 

Lilah, who lives down the road from the proposed site, wanted the project to be called off as temperatures were considerably higher than other parts of the area. 

‘During heatwaves in the summer, we have a higher land surface temperature than pretty much everywhere else because there’s a lack of a tree canopy and green space,’ she said. 

‘This causes frequent power outages during heatwaves and because we are hotter, we are using more power, more air conditioning and more fans than the grid can handle.’ 

The Climate Council’s most recent report found that centres could see energy use triple by 2030, with water consumption also expected to surge. 

As a result, some residents fear larger energy and water bills, including Southport’s Sharnnie Licciardo. 

‘I’m going to have to struggle with energy bills and water bills,’ she said.

‘It made me want to think about leaving the Gold Coast.’

Reports show power prices could rise by close to 26 per cent in NSW and 23 per cent in Victoria by 2035. 

The centres are also expected to use 17 gigalitres of water over the next five years.