Data centre residents demand compensation as Senate inquiry hears concerns

Residents living near a large data centre in Melbourne's west are demanding compensation and remediation for the impacts of pollution and potential fire risk. The calls for action come as a Senate inquiry into artificial intelligence and data centres hears from residents and local councils about the effects of a growing number of data centres in the area.

Community concerns

The data centre, operated by tech giant NextDC, is located just 15 metres from homes in West Footscray. An application to more than double the facility's size, lodged earlier this year, would not need to meet new regulations if approved. These regulations, unveiled by the Victorian government yesterday, include a ban on data centres near homes and schools, with 150-metre buffer zones, and a mandate for the use of renewable energy and non-drinking water.

Citizens for Tottenham, an advocacy group representing people living in the suburbs of West Footscray, Tottenham, and Kingsville, is calling for remediation. They argue that Victoria's new rules are "too little too late". One of their main concerns is the fumes and noise pollution emitted by dozens of back-up diesel generators at the NextDC data centre, which are run regularly for maintenance.

Demands for compensation

The group wants residents living within 500 metres of the data centres to be offered a voluntary buyback based on the latest Maribyrnong City Council rates notice or independent market valuation, whichever is higher. They also want stamp duty and moving costs covered, as well as a one-off payment of $10,000 to assist with time off work for moving and "general inconvenience".

"Many people don't want to live near [the data centre], but it's not going anywhere," Citizens for Tottenham member Sean Brown said. "People who don't want to be here should be able to move and not be out of pocket."

Brown also suggested that residents who stay in the area should be entitled to compensation for loss of amenity during construction, including $5,000 per year for households located at the boundary of the NextDC or PMDC facilities.

Senate inquiry

Senate inquiry chair and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young backed calls for impacted residents to be compensated by tech companies. "Australians need to get something out of this," Senator Hanson-Young said. "Compensation should be on the table, but it's also about what is the community benefit from these big AI facilities?"

"Right now, the only ones benefiting are the big, trillion-dollar AI companies," she said.

Developer response

Syncline Energy's managing director Phil Galloway appeared before the Senate inquiry to defend a proposed mega data centre in Plumpton, in Melbourne’s north-west. He conceded that the developer should have done more to bolster community engagement, describing backlash from local residents as "entirely valid".

"We've done a bad job, and we've been slow in explaining what it is and how we're going about it," he said.

Galloway said the Plumpton data centre would be 75 per cent powered by renewable energy, while the remaining 25 per cent would be purchased from the grid.

Local council concerns

Citizens for Tottenham president Jacqui Glover, who lives directly across the road from NextDC, said while the new Victorian rules were a "good start", the government's proposed 150-metre buffer zone was insufficient.

"The diesel emissions are not going to stop at 150 metres," Ms Glover said. "And it's too late for us — the horse has already bolted."

Hume City Council Mayor Carly Moore also criticised the buffer, telling the inquiry it did not appear to be backed by scientific research.