Residents have raised concerns about plans to turn their area into a data center hub, saying they were not consulted before the proposals were announced. The concerns were voiced during a Greenpeace Australia Pacific-led town hall at Lane Cove Library on a rainy Monday evening.
One proposed data center would be located just 16 meters from the nearest home and approximately 160 meters from a local primary school.
Flood said approving all four data centers planned for the industrial park could force 50% of existing businesses to relocate, putting local jobs at risk.
Felipe Tanaka, 40, owns a business in the industrial park and has been told it may need to move to make way for a proposed data center.
“I had no idea something like this would happen,” Tanaka told the BBC. “Thousands of jobs could be lost from this region over the next few years.”
Although a large data center can employ more than 1,000 workers during construction, research indicates that staffing levels may fall to about 100 employees once the facility becomes operational.
“Most of our 300 to 400 employees are local,” Tanaka said. “If we have to relocate, we will probably lose half of our workforce.”
NSW Treasurer Mr Muhey said the wider economic benefits of data centers would come not only from jobs inside the facilities, but also from businesses and services that use the technology.
“When Microsoft and Amazon do business here in NSW, it is positive to see their commitment to creating highly skilled work and locating those opportunities in the state,” he said.
However, critics say it remains unclear which additional skilled jobs would be created and how the proposed data centers would be used. Some have also questioned the energy consumption of artificial intelligence applications, including AI-generated GIFs and other content.
“They tell us this infrastructure is essential, and that we need data centers in our neighborhoods, but they do not explain what they will be used for,” Flood said.
“If our drinking water, energy and land are being used to generate AI content with little practical value, then the community is not receiving a meaningful return.”
*Names have been changed to protect personal information
Source: www.bbc.co.uk