The George Town Council has approved a major AI data centre at Bell Bay, clearing the way for one of Tasmania’s largest data infrastructure projects.
Councillors voted six to one on Tuesday to approve the Firmus Technologies facility at Long Reach, in the Bell Bay Advanced Manufacturing Zone.
The 288-megawatt facility will run around the clock. It includes two data halls, an office building, a substation, cooling systems and 276 backup diesel generators.
It will connect to existing 220kV transmission lines through a new substation and plans show a recirculating cooling system designed to limit water use.
Once operational, the facility will make Firmus the state’s single largest electricity consumer, overtaking major industrial users such as Bell Bay Aluminium.
The proposal drew heavy public interest, attracting 349 formal representations and an e-petition of close to 6,000 signatures urging councillors to reject it.
Councillors said their hands were largely tied.
Acting as a planning authority, they could only weigh the proposal against the Tasmanian Planning Scheme, not wider questions about energy, water or AI policy.
Council planners had recommended approval with conditions, noting that many of the concerns raised by residents – power and water use, pollution and environmental impact among them – fell outside the matters they were legally able to consider.
The site sits on the cleared pad first laid out for the abandoned Bell Bay Pulp Mill, the former Gunns project at Long Reach.
It is zoned general industrial and the council classified the data centre as a utilities use.
The approval carries 19 conditions covering noise, stormwater, bushfire risk, air emissions and hazardous materials storage.
Among them, Firmus must carry out a noise survey within 60 days of starting operations and lodge an air quality assessment within a year.
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) decided in August it did not need to assess the project, finding the risk of serious harm was very low or negligible.
Ahead of the vote, Premier Jeremy Rockliff said Tasmania welcomed AI investment for the jobs and opportunities it created, pointing to billions of dollars in potential investment.
“We don’t want to see those guardrails become too restrictive because we want to ensure that Tasmania is open for business,” Rockliff said.
He said residents had every right to protest, but the community needed more information and confidence in the sector.
Bell Bay is one of three Firmus sites planned for northern Tasmania, alongside Launceston and Wesley Vale.
The company is already building a 104-megawatt data centre at St Leonards in Launceston and is pursuing plans for a 52-megawatt facility at Wesley Vale in the state’s north-west.
Around 80 people rallied outside the council building before the vote, urging councillors to knock the proposal back.
They raised concerns about the project’s energy demand, its effect on local biodiversity and the lack of independent assessment and argued residents had a right to clear information on how much power and water the facility would use.
Several said jobs alone were not enough to justify it and some vowed to keep campaigning.
The Greens have criticised the approval, saying the community had again been left in the dark.
Greens MP Tabatha Badger called for a moratorium on new data centres until proper safeguards were in place and said questions remain.
“The lack of transparency for the state government who have backed in Firmus without asking Tasmanians is shameless,” she said.
“The fact today’s decision was made just 24 hours before a federal cabinet meeting discussing nationwide obligations around energy and water consumption of AI and data centres is an added insult to the community.”
The approval takes effect after a 14-day appeal period, with any appeal going to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT).
