Sir/Madam,

I hereby put forward my following objections to this project.

1. Loss of our bush heritage

The proposed Julius Ave project will see the destruction of 500 trees in this 2-3 hectare parcel of bushland in the heart of Sydney that needs to be preserved, particularly along the Lane Cove River coridor. It is not feasible to cut down 500 trees in a pristine enviornment as is proposed. The planned planting of this number of trees or more in another location still means the destruction of a natural setting and biodiversity. This destruction of natural habitat so close to a river system and National Park is simply not appropriate.

Why cannot such a large facility be developed on vacant or previously cleared land, away from Lane Cove River precinct? The real cost is to our natural environment - a reduction of more bushland biodiversity and corridors for native fauna to roam freely. Surely, there are vast numbers of areas in Sydney that could accommodate such a development. Has the developer demonstrated that no other location could be used? This should be a definite part of the decision-making process.

2. Energy Storage/Redundancy

The design of an energy back up system involving the installation of 73 back-up generators and 12 x diesel storage tanks (+ 72-day tanks) seems like a terrible choice for an energy redundancy system for a grid-connected data centre.  On site storage of 1.2 million litres of diesel seems obscenely large. As data centres get bigger, their demand on grid-derived electricity increases. However, it is also the redundancy (back up) infrastructure that also grows enormously.  Why cannot developments be required (as part of their development applications) to include greener storage systems for capacity this large?

Such solutions for energy storage are put forward and well documented as real solutions.  An example is work researched and documented by the Climate Council of Australia.  The latter is one of many progressive organisations that put forward possible solutions in line with Australia's push for a net zero future, with less reliance on fossil fuels.  All government departments (local, state and federal) must surely take this later point into account. Serious attention should be placed on alternatives to diesel generators and storage of over a million litres of diesel on-site.  The Climate Council put forward the case for large storage solutions as part of their recent  (2025) report entitled "BATTERY BOOM: SUPERCHARGING AUSTRALIA’S RENEWABLE ROLLOUT". I attach this document FYI.

I read in the development application that alternative redundancy systems were considered.  How seriously were they looked at? If diesel generators were simply the option with best ROI and economic credentials, that should note be the sole consideration. Australia's commitment to a clean energy transition with set targets requires less reliance on fossil fuels, one project at a time.  Other, greener energy storage and redundancy options MUST be considered more seriously, for instance 12hr Flow Batteries.

3. User of Water

It is well known that Data Centres require a huge, on-going use of water for the cooling of IT equipment. I read that Sydney Water will supply potable water for this cooling process. There does not appear to be any estimations of how much water will be used. Why has this not been reported on (it is obviously a huge amount of water)? Is there no other cooling methodology possible for such a facility? This is an oversight to not report on this and it must be addressed.

I trust my submission will be read and the objections and alternatives seriously considered.  I would appreciate a formal response in due course.

Yours Faithfully,
Eric Allas

To Whom It May Concern,

Re: Opposition to Proposed Data Centre Development Adjacent to Lane Cove National Park and the Lane Cove River

I am writing to formally express my strong opposition to the proposed construction of a data centre adjacent to the Lane Cove National Park and the Lane Cove River. I am a 4th generation resident of Hunters hill and grew up sailing, kayaking and exploring the river by boat as my children do today. Growing up this river hosted a paint factory and was severely polluted, today it is clean and wildlife is flourishing, the rocks are again covered in oysters, there are abundant fish and birds. I do not take this for granted and we MUST protect this waterway and the park land that surrounds it for future generations.

Lane Cove National Park is a vital ecological, recreational, and cultural asset to the Sydney community and beyond. It supports a rich diversity of native flora and fauna, provides crucial green space in an increasingly urbanised area, and plays a key role in improving air and water quality for the region.

The construction and operation of a data centre in such close proximity to this sensitive environment raises serious environmental concerns, including:

Water Pollution Risks: Data centres typically require significant cooling infrastructure, often using water-based systems. Any discharge of heated water or accidental chemical runoff poses a real threat to the health of the Lane Cove River and its aquatic ecosystems.

Habitat Disruption: Construction and operation will bring light pollution, noise, vibration, and increased traffic — all of which will disturb local wildlife and may result in long-term biodiversity loss in and around the park.

Air and Noise Pollution: Backup diesel generators, increased vehicle movement, and other industrial operations may degrade air quality and introduce noise into an area valued for its peace and natural quiet.

Visual and Cultural Impact: The presence of a large, industrial facility so close to a national park compromises the natural character and visual integrity of the area, which holds cultural and recreational importance for Indigenous communities, local residents, and visitors alike.

Climate and Sustainability Concerns: Approving energy-intensive infrastructure in a sensitive area sends the wrong message in a time when we should be prioritising sustainable development, emissions reductions, and environmental stewardship.

While I acknowledge the need for digital infrastructure, such facilities must be located in appropriate, low-impact industrial zones, not adjacent to ecologically and culturally significant protected areas.

I urge the planning authorities to reject this proposal in the interests of long-term environmental protection, responsible urban planning, and the preservation of Lane Cove National Park for future generations.

Thank you for considering this submission.

Yours sincerely, J.R.

This submission objects strongly to the proposed construction and operation of a 170 megawatt data centre at 6–8 Julius Avenue, North Ryde.
The principal objections are:
Inappropriate scale and siting – A 170MW industrial facility, with a 50m built form and 72 diesel generators, is incompatible with its proximity to residential zones, Lane Cove National Park, and the Lane Cove River.
Unprecedented energy demand – The proposed load (170MW) represents a significant proportion of Sydney’s electricity grid. This raises questions of energy security, climate commitments, and the risks of load-shedding during outages.
Adverse visual and landscape impacts – The massive built form will dominate entry views into Macquarie Park from the M2 and Epping Road corridors, undermining decades of urban planning and landscape conservation.
Environmental degradation – The development will sever bushland connectivity, remove remnant vegetation, increase urban heat island effects, and threaten biodiversity corridors along the Lane Cove River.
Historical precedent of conflict – The Lane Cove Valley has a long history of contested infrastructure proposals, including the Lane Cove Valley Freeway, Mowbray Park disputes, and the destruction of “Fairyland” picnic grounds. These lessons underline the need to preserve the valley as a community and ecological asset rather than a site for large-scale industrialisation.
Alternative sites exist – Other locations within the Macquarie Park business precinct, away from sensitive environmental land and bushland interfaces, should be investigated.
If the proposal is to be advanced, significant amelioration measures must be required: provision of dedicated public access to Lane Cove National Park, upgraded tracks, bush regeneration programs, and design concessions to reduce visual and ecological impacts.
For the reasons set out in this submission, the development should not proceed in its proposed form.
1. Context and Description of the Proposal
The proponent seeks consent to construct a six-storey data centre with 12 data halls, ancillary offices, 115 car parks, and 72 x 3.2MW diesel generators, with a total electrical load of 170MW
Key features include:
Site area: 28,630 sqm
Building height: ~50m
Backup diesel storage: 840,000 litres (12 tanks x 70kL)
Adjoining land: Lane Cove National Park and Lane Cove River (100m east)
Surrounds: Commercial precinct of Macquarie Park, but within 300m of residential zones at Lane Cove North and North Ryde
This is not a modest commercial development but an industrial-scale facility with significant implications for the urban, environmental, and energy landscapes of Sydney.
2. Necessity of a 170MW Data Centre in a Residential/Environmental Zone
2.1 Questionable locational need
Data centres are essential to digital economies, but their site requirements are flexible: flat land, grid connectivity, and telecommunications access. There is no inherent necessity to place such an energy-hungry, diesel-reliant facility within a sensitive bushland interface.
The proponent has not provided any transparent justification as to why this particular site, adjacent to Lane Cove National Park and residential communities, is preferable over less constrained alternatives.
2.2 Urban planning principles ignored
Good planning practice dictates that heavy utility and energy-intensive infrastructure should be sited away from environmental assets and residential zones, ideally within industrial precincts designed to support such uses.
By contrast, this site:
Directly adjoins Lane Cove National Park.
Is within sight lines of major public entry corridors (M2, Epping Road).
Abuts areas of high biodiversity and cultural history.
This makes it one of the least suitable sites for a data centre of this scale.
3. Historical Precedents of Environmental Conflict in the Lane Cove Valley
The Lane Cove Valley has long been the site of contested battles between infrastructure development and environmental protection.
3.1 Lane Cove Valley Freeway
For decades, proposals for a Lane Cove Valley Freeway threatened to carve through bushland. Studies from the 1980s note how the “freeway reservation” posed existential risks to the valley’s continuity and ecological health
. Community opposition and conservation advocacy ultimately preserved large tracts of bushland from freeway alienation.
3.2 Mowbray Park Sports Fields
Mowbray Park, once a natural bushland area, was alienated for sports fields despite conservationist opposition. The narrowing of the valley corridor and loss of native vegetation were seen as short-sighted decisions
3.3 Fairyland
The site known as “Fairyland,” once a beloved picnic ground, was lost due to development pressures and bushland clearance. Historical accounts stress the irretrievable loss of cultural and ecological heritage
These examples demonstrate a pattern: once natural or cultural assets in the Lane Cove Valley are alienated, they are lost forever. The Julius Avenue proposal risks repeating these mistakes.
4. Visual Amenity and Landscape Impacts
4.1 Gateway to Macquarie Park
The proposal site sits at a critical visual threshold: the entry from the M2 motorway and Epping Road into Macquarie Park.
The proposed 50m-high structure, with bulk massing and industrial rooftop plant, will:
Dominate the skyline.
Sever views towards Lane Cove National Park.
Replace a transitional bushland edge with a looming industrial wall.
4.2 Conflict with conservation designations
The Lane Cove foreshores are recognised as part of a National Trust Landscape Conservation Area and classified by the Maritime Services Board as “lands in a natural state where no development will be permitted”
A six-storey data centre directly abutting this landscape will create an irreconcilable visual clash between protected natural values and industrial form.
5. Energy Demand and NSW Power Supply
5.1 Proportion of Sydney’s electricity needs
Sydney’s total electricity demand typically ranges around 8–9 GW at peak. A single facility requiring 170 MW therefore represents nearly 2% of metropolitan peak demand.
This is an extraordinary share for one user, raising questions of grid prioritisation, load management, and community benefit.
5.2 Risk of outages
The proponent proposes 72 diesel backup generators
However, reliance on diesel generation in a bushfire-prone, urban-adjacent zone is problematic:
Air quality impacts of diesel particulates.
Noise impacts during testing and operation.
Energy security risks if load-shedding is required – will the centre be shut off to protect residential supply during peak or emergency events?
Without transparent agreements with Ausgrid and AEMO, the proposal risks becoming an energy liability for NSW.
5.3 Climate commitments
At a time when NSW is working towards net zero targets, approving a diesel-backed, 170MW data centre represents a regressive planning decision. The project risks locking in decades of high-carbon infrastructure.
6. Alternative Locations
If Sydney requires additional data centre capacity, alternative sites must be considered:
Industrial lands further west (e.g. Eastern Creek, Erskine Park), where grid capacity is higher and environmental sensitivity lower.
Less visually prominent Macquarie Park parcels, set back from the Lane Cove River and National Park.
Co-location with existing high-energy infrastructure (e.g. Sydney West substation precincts).
There is no demonstrable need for a 170MW facility at Julius Avenue, particularly when alternative locations could provide equivalent service without the environmental and community cost.
7. Amelioration Considerations if Approved
If, despite these objections, the Department is minded to approve the proposal, substantial amelioration measures must be imposed:
Public access to Lane Cove National Park
A dedicated, landscaped public walkway connecting Julius Avenue into the Great North Walk.
Upgraded signage and entry infrastructure.
Track upgrades and bush regeneration
Funding for track maintenance, weed control, and bush regeneration programs in adjacent parklands.
Visual impact mitigation
Building envelope reduction.
Screening vegetation buffers with local native species.
Setbacks increased to preserve skyline continuity.
Sustainable energy conditions
Mandatory renewable energy procurement.
Limiting diesel generator use.
Onsite solar and battery storage contributions.
Community offset funding
Investment in local recreation facilities to offset the loss of amenity.
8. Conclusion
The Julius Avenue Data Centre proposal is fundamentally at odds with the environmental, social, and planning values of the Lane Cove Valley.
Its approval would:
Set a dangerous precedent of industrial encroachment into natural landscapes.
Impose a disproportionate energy burden on NSW’s grid.
Permanently scar the visual and cultural amenity of Macquarie Park’s entrance.
The NSW Department of Planning must weigh the true necessity of this development against its irreversible costs.
The conclusion is clear: this proposal should not proceed.
Should the Department nevertheless advance the project, strict amelioration and offset conditions must be imposed to safeguard the Lane Cove Valley for future generations.

Concerning the proposed Julius Ave Data Centre:
The site of this proposed development is important bushland. It is replete with mature trees which provide habitat for our struggling wildlife. I understand the project involves removing more than 500 large trees. The area is also a wildlife corridor - an important factor, as wildlife struggles when their communities are "islanded'.
Re-planting the forest after clearing an area is a poor replacement: the juvenile trees take a hundred years at least to form the hollows our creatures need to nest and shelter in. Planting or preserving a corresponding area of bush is never satisfactory, either because the planting is of seedling trees, or else officials claim to be preserving bush that already exists.
We must resist destruction of habitat such as that proposed for Julius Ave.

I OBJECT to the planning proposal because of the potential tree and habitat loss for 14 species that are local to the Lane Cove National Park. As the site abuts the National Park, there is potential for corridor loss for these species which include Powerful Owl, Glossy Black Cockatoo which may use mature trees as nesting spaces. Other species of plants will also be impacted. I understand that the developer will replant trees elsewhere however this can not replicate the loss of existing trees.

I do NOT support the proposal for the Julius Avenue Data Centre.
I understand that, in its present form, this plan will result in the removal of 509 trees (Page 9 of EIS - Julius Avenue Data Centre 240625). These are part of the important habitat corridor right next to Lane Cove National Park and the Great North Walk near Fairyland. After bushfires in the Lane Cove River Valley in January 1994, a population of swamp wallabies survived by following this corridor and now populate bushland areas along the Lane Cove River at least as far as the Field of Mars Reserve. The removal of this many trees and understorey will remove important animal habitat.
Another issue is the impact on the local environment. I live in an area overlooking a data centre in Macquarie Park and its impact on local climate is often visible with clouds of steam rising from cooling vents on the building. This would be creating a localised heat island, and a data centre adjacent to natural bushland would therefore change the local natural environment, involving loss of habitat for threatened species.

This project will still have a significant affect on its neighbour, Lane Cove National Park, due to land clearance disrupting animal habitat and creating a visual impact for local residents.
The continued noise will impact the amenity of Park users.
The amount of power and water being used will impact existing antiquated infrastructure in an area already stretched with the development of residential towers.
This area has a disproprtionate number of these data centres.