Residents near huge data centre demand financial compensation

Residents living just metres from a sprawling, hyper-scale data centre in Melbourne's west have called for remediation and financial compensation over the ongoing impacts of diesel emissions, light and air pollution, and potential fire risk.It comes as a Senate inquiry on artificial intelligence and data centres today heard from residents and local councils about the impact of an influx of data centres in Melbourne's west and north.The Victorian government yesterday unveiled new regulations to ban data centres near homes and schools, including 150-metre buffer zones, while mandating the use of renewable energy and non-drinking water.But the rules would not be applied retrospectively, meaning projects that had already been approved or had lodged planning applications would not need to abide by the updated standards.The Victorian government argues data centre development will lead to job creation and investment. (ABC News: John Gunn)Tech giant NextDC's West Footscray data centre is located just 15 metres from homes.An application to more than double the facility's size, lodged earlier this year, would not need to meet the new regulations if approved.Another data centre, the Perri Melbourne Data Centre (PMDC), was approved by the planning minister last year and will also be situated in West Footscray, just a block away from NextDC.Citizens for Tottenham, an advocacy group representing residents living in the suburbs of West Footscray, Tottenham and Kingsville, has called for remediation of impacted neighbourhoods, for whom they say new rules are "too little too late".Sean Brown is a founding member of the Citizens of Tottenham, a community group which is opposed NextDC's expansion. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)Among their chief complaints are fumes and air pollution emitted by dozens of back-up diesel generators at the NextDC data centre, which are run regularly for maintenance.Under the group's key requests, the roughly 2,500 residents living within 500 metres of the data centres would be offered a voluntary buyback based on the latest Maribyrnong City Council rates notice or independent market valuation, whichever is higher.Stamp duty and moving costs would also be covered, while households would also receive 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," Citizen for Tottenham member Sean Brown told the ABC."People who don't want to be here should be able to move and not be out of pocket."Greens senator backs calls for compensationResearch released in July by Australian software firm Airteam and Primara estimated that having a data centre located in close proximity could wipe up to $35,000 from a property's price.The survey of 1,000 Australians found 83 per cent of respondents would refuse to buy a home near a data centre without a price discount.Mr Brown said residents who stayed in the area should also be entitled to compensation for loss of amenity during construction, including $5,000 per year for households located at the boundary of either the NextDC or PMDC data centres.He said compensation should be funded by data centre operators or the state government, and that local residents were also considering legal action."We've got to work on solutions. We can't just be protesting, we can't just be raising issues all the time — we've got to find a way forward," Mr Brown said."The status quo is just not sustainable."NextDC and PMDC developer Perri Projects has been contacted for comment.Sarah Hanson-Young argues only AI firms are benefiting from data centre development at present. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)Senate inquiry chair and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young backed calls for impacted residents to be compensated by tech companies."It's really clear that Australians need to get something out of this," Ms 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.The Victorian government argues data centre development can benefit the broader economy and communities via job creation and investment, pointing to $5.8 billion in capital expenditure from the sector last year.Melbourne councils front inquiryCitizens for Tottenham president Jacqui Glover today appeared before the Senate inquiry into data centres.Ms Glover, who lives directly across the road from the NextDC data centres, said while the new regulations were a "good start", the government's proposed 150-metre buffer zone was insufficient.Several data centres have been established in Melbourne's inner west over the past decade. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)"The diesel emissions are not going to stop at 150 metres," Ms Glover told the inquiry."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.Maribyrnong Mayor Mohamed Semra said the government's planning framework was "not fit for purpose", with local councils being sidelined.