The New South Wales Government has given the green light to the construction of a new $264 million data centre in Macquarie Park, which will support the growing digital economy in the State as well as generate up to 450 new jobs.
“Our increased reliance on digital technologies means the demand for the physical infrastructure underpinning these technologies is growing.
“Fast-tracking data centre assessments are a key part of the NSW Government’s planning reforms because they are vital to supporting our economic growth,” Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said.
The development of this new data centre is a welcome addition to Macquarie Park’s booming business district, according to Member for Ryde Victor Dominello.
“The data centre will create 400 construction jobs and up to 50 operational jobs, a significant boost for the area,” Mr Dominello said.
Construction on the multi-million-dollar projects is anticipated to commence in September of this year and is due to be completed by March 2023.
The approval of this new data centre follows the recent reforms and proposed changes to planning rules in order to support the fast-tracked delivery of data centres across the State.
As part of this, the state significant threshold of $50 million for these types of developments has been lowered to $30 million until May 2023. This includes additional resources to help these developments get through the planning system faster.
The State Government is considering feedback on proposed changes to planning rules as well, which could see some data centres set up as complying developments but subject to strict conditions.
Source: NSW Government – Media Releases; Inside Construction; W.Media