Latrobe Council has called for tougher oversight of AI data centres, warning Tasmania’s planning system is not equipped to properly assess a $2.1 billion project proposed for Wesley Vale.
The council unanimously backed three requests to the state government at a special meeting on Monday night.
It will ask the planning minister to declare the proposed 52-megawatt data centre a major project and push for urgent changes to the state’s planning rules.
It will also ask the Environment Protection Authority to assess the proposal.
The application comes from Firmus, which has proposed building the centre on the old Wesley Vale Pulp Mill site.
According to the council’s report, the Tasmanian planning scheme has no category for data centres.
That means the project has been classified as a ‘utilities’ use, which is allowed in the general industrial zone.
The report warns that could allow a data centre to proceed without public advertising and with few conditions attached if it met the scheme’s standards.
Council officers said that would limit its ability to address concerns about nearby farmland and Devonport Airport.
Airport operator TasPorts has raised concerns about airspace, radio frequencies and emissions from the 40 diesel generators proposed for backup power.
Mayor Peter Freshney said the council was not opposed to AI or investment, but wanted a planning system capable of dealing with projects of this size.
“Despite the state government promoting AI data centre development, there has been no consideration of how such proposals would be assessed within the defined use classes in the planning scheme,” he said.
“Councils need a planning and assessment framework that is fit for purpose and capable of appropriately considering projects of this scale and complexity and a process that gives communities confidence that the broader impacts are being appropriately assessed and considered.”
The council’s vote came just hours after the state government released a draft set of expectations for the industry.
Business, Industry and Resources Minister Felix Ellis said the document would give developers and communities “clear and predictable guidance”.
“Our government expects companies to maximise benefits for Tasmania, engage genuinely with communities, support our energy system, use water responsibly and comply with our approval processes,” he said.
Freshney said the council’s position would also feed into a parliamentary inquiry examining whether Tasmania’s planning system can cope with AI facilities.
The council’s report says the Wesley Vale project cannot be decided until the planning minister rules on the major project request.
