Local fury in fight against ‘diabolical’ proposal for AI data centre next to school, experts argue boon for WA

Residents of a quiet pocket in Perth’s north-east are up in arms as the local council considers plans for a three-storey data centre next to a school. In a planning spat expected to be replicated across the State amid rapidly expanding technology and demand for artificial intelligence, locals are lobbying the City of Swan to step in and reject the plan. Sites for such centres in the Eastern States have sold for as much as $1.2 billion. But experts say WA is uniquely placed and has untapped potential to house data centres. Sydney-based data company GreenSquareDC is proposing a 23.5m tall, three-storey facility across 14,883sqm next to Helena River Waldorf School, where 100 students are enrolled with a educational philosophy “centred around nature”, according to a school spokeswoman. “We chose this site because of the proximity to the river,” she told The West Australian. “We have planted over 1000 trees on the banks of the river right near where the data centre is going to go.” The school has been left baffled that the development has gained traction, with its sheer size and height set to dwarf surrounding properties. The application as a “light industrial” project has received pushback. Aggrieved locals argue the industrial-scale development would change the quiet, riverside residential land permanently and set precedents for further development in the area. “It would have an enormous negative impact on our school and the future of our school,” the school spokeswoman said. “At present this is a very quiet cul de sac, but that will all change completely. “With it being our direct neighbour, our children deserve a better environment in which to study and learn to grow than what is being proposed here.” But data centres — which critics claim can be noisy and contribute to visual pollution, as well as a drain on local environmental resources — could be an overall benefit to WA, UWA Pro Vice-Chancellor and chair of its generative AI committee Zachary Aman said. “The amount of renewable energy that we currently use… around half our electricity comes from renewables, but it peaks up to between 75 per cent and 80 per cent,” he told The West Australian. “That’s a tremendous renewable fraction in an isolated grid system, which means we are closer than most in being able to see the idea of green AI compute, which many countries are a decade away from being able to do at scale.” With the US and Europe having a monopoly on the data centres, coupled with a big portion of data unable to be sent overseas, local centres become essential. “It makes a heck of a lot of sense to be able to have something locally that our local businesses and organisations and government can rely on for AI compute and AI adoption,” Mr Aman said. “When we start thinking about how many small to medium enterprises distributed across WA that want to, or need to keep that data locally controlled, the ability to have a local AI data centre means that can explore options that otherwise they couldn’t have.” Locals against the proposal and agitating for the council to block it have created an online petition, which has attracted more than 1000 signatures since it was launched on Wednesday. The council is scheduled to next meet on April 8. The City of Swan and GreenSquareDC were contacted for comment.