Support Western Downs Says Pause

Western Downs Says Pause is a group of community members concerned about the impacts and unknowns of the massive Kogan Data centre proposed outside Dalby.
This is the biggest planned data centre in Australia and would significantly impact the local community and Queenslanders across the state.

Anthropic and Zerra want to build a 725 ha data centre and digital infrastructure park just 37 km from Dalby, amongst some of Queensland’s best farmland.

Locals have been blindsided by the proposal, gathering over 20,000 signatures calling for the project to be paused until the community can meaningfully …

Western Downs Says Pause is a group of community members concerned about the impacts and unknowns of the massive Kogan Data centre proposed outside Dalby.
This is the biggest planned data centre in Australia and would significantly impact the local community and Queenslanders across the state.

Anthropic and Zerra want to build a 725 ha data centre and digital infrastructure park just 37 km from Dalby, amongst some of Queensland’s best farmland.

Locals have been blindsided by the proposal, gathering over 20,000 signatures calling for the project to be paused until the community can meaningfully comment and consult on the impacts of the project, including huge electricity usage and risk to power prices, noise, dust and air pollution and impacts on water resources and catchments.

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Subject:

To the Chief Executive Officer, Western Downs Regional Council, PO Box 551, Dalby QLD 4405

Submission on DA 030.2026.513.001: Western Downs Digital Park, 1933 Dalby-Kogan Road, Kogan (Lot 125 on DY316)

I object to this application and ask Council not to make a decision until the applicant has provided the missing information listed below and the community has had further opportunity to meaningfully comment and consult on the proposal. This project should also not be approved until there are further, community-supported safeguards for AI and data centres at state, national and international levels.

I am very concerned about the Western Downs Digital Park proposal due to the significant impacts it is likely to have on regional Queensland, including;

- Driving up electricity prices as a result of significant additional load on the grid

- Heat likely to be generated by the “air-cooled chillers” will generate significant excess heat that will need to be discharged somewhere and has not been modelled under increasingly hot climate conditions

- No clear plans for water supply, in spite of the importance of water to this farming community

- Potential use of water from coal seam gas extraction in construction with the possibility of soil and water contamination.

- Social impacts of the enabled Artificial Intelligence on the community and future generations (i.e. via loss of jobs etc)

This application does not meet the specific outcomes listed for industrial land use in the Western Downs Strategic Plan. Section 3.3.9.1 of the Plan specifies that Western Downs will be “responsive to the industrial needs of the resource, energy and agricultural sectors where the long-term health of the environment and wellbeing of communities is protected”. It also says “avoids or is appropriately separated from sensitive land uses to protect waterway health and the health, wellbeing, amenity and safety of the community from the impacts of air, noise and odour emissions and hazardous materials.”

The Western Downs Digital Park undermines these responsibilities set by council. The project will have cumulative impacts on the environment and wellbeing of individuals and communities in the Western Downs, both directly and indirectly. It will permanently alter the area's rural character and degrade its amenity. It is not consistent with the purpose and intent of the Rural Zone and does not comply with several overall outcomes of the Rural Zone Code.

The proposal would subject local residents and workers to unacceptable noise and air pollution impacts, many of which are not adequately described in the application plan. The application does not properly assess impacts on water resources, even though it plans to harvest stormwater and dispose of treated wastewater on-site.

The development application claims benefits in terms of jobs and economic activity, but there is conflicting information about the number of jobs during operations and no assessment of local or regional economic benefits.  There is no social impact assessment, no commitment to local jobs and industry and no cost-benefit analysis.

I ask Council to make no decision until these questions are answered, a cumulative social impact assessment is done, and the new information is publicly notified; not approve the project until community-supported AI and data centre safeguards are in place at state, national and international levels; and oppose Prescribed Project status and any Coordinator-General step-in.

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