Two Sydney data centers scrapped, 1.2GW Tungkillo project paused

Three Australian data center developments changed course this month after community opposition: AirTrunk cancelled a 140MW facility in Lane Cove West, Stockland dropped an AI data center from its $3.5 billion Cooks River project, and Quantum DC paused planning approvals for a 1.2GW hyperscale site in Tungkillo, South Australia.

What happened at Lane Cove?

AirTrunk, the APAC operator owned by a consortium of Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, had proposed the 140MW data center at Apollo Place and Mars Road in Lane Cove West. The company already runs its SYD2 campus in the same suburb.

The cancellation does not affect the existing facility or the already approved Apollo Place development, an adjoining facility that will form a larger integrated campus with SYD2. AirTrunk told local media the site was "unsuitable" for the facilities its customers need and said it would examine more feasible sites elsewhere in Australia, where it has several developments in progress.

Lane Cove West has now lost three data center proposals in quick succession:

• Goodman Group dropped a 90MW campus, Project Mars, in September, saying the policy and regulatory environment had "evolved significantly" and citing community feedback.
• A project by the Lane Cove DC Alliance, backed by Australia's Investment Delivery Authority, was also cancelled.
• Local outlet In the Cove alleged the Alliance was not a registered business or company, and that the development was actually put forward by Ford Land Company and Aurora Property Partnership, a related entity of east coast electricity provider Ausgrid.

Lane Cove West has effectively closed to new hyperscale builds.

Why did the Cooks River project collapse?

Stockland has withdrawn the AI data center from its joint venture with John Boyd Properties in Cooks River, Sydney. The development formed part of a wider $3.5 billion logistics and commercial project across 18.3 hectares (45 acres) of land formerly belonging to the Kogarah Golf Club. The project will now proceed without the data center.

The Stop the Cooks River AI Project (SCRAP) group claims it mobilized "hundreds of people" against the data center and the wider development.

"This is an important victory for people power," said Paddy Gibson, a local resident and SCRAP organizer. "Stockland's backdown serves as yet another warning to political leaders at the federal and state level that are rolling out the red carpet for US tech bros. Local communities will not accept their obscene plans to make Australia the second home for power- and water-guzzling AI data centers."

Stockland said the original concept allowed various uses permitted under zoning, including data centers; its revised plan focuses on logistics and mixed-use development. The company still has several data center projects underway in Australia, including two in Melbourne and one in Sydney announced this year.

Gibson said the remaining logistics and commercial development still threatens green space along the Cooks River, a "sanctuary for endangered native plants and animals." Further protests are planned later this month.

The Cooks River site will be built out — just without the compute.

What does the Tungkillo pause mean?

Quantum DC has paused planning approvals for its Tungkillo Compute and Energy Hub, citing the need for engagement with the local community and the state government. The company cancelled two community information sessions planned for later this month in favor of a "longer-term engagement program." Last month it scrapped a drop-in meeting after what it called a "credible" bomb threat.

The proposal, Quantum DC's first project, specifies:

• A 1.2GW hyperscale facility for cloud and AI workloads
• On-site gas turbines for backup power and two new substations
• Co-location with separately developed battery energy storage projects
• Around 120 hectares (300 acres) of a 220-hectare (550-acre) grazing site, with the remaining 100 hectares continuing as grazing land

The company chose Tungkillo for its "strategically significant position on South Australia's transmission network," plus an existing high-pressure gas pipeline and fiber connection.

"We recognize that some members of the community have concerns about the process to date and want reassurance about the planning and assessment processes being followed," Quantum DC said in a statement. "We are also hearing a range of views about the proposal itself."

The company admitted it had "misread the strength of feeling about this proposal" and that its first weeks of engagement "created more questions than answers."

"We are open to ideas that help shape this proposal, and nothing in the design is off the table," the statement continued. "If the process shows that parts of the proposal need to change, they will change."

Tungkillo survives on paper — but only if Quantum DC can rebuild local trust.