Stockland Drops 25,400 m² Data Centre From Sydney Cooks Cove Plan

Stockland and its partner John Boyd Properties have withdrawn the AI data centre from their redevelopment of the former Kogarah Golf Club site at Arncliffe, in Sydney's south, according to ABC News on Nov 8. The data centre would have covered 25,400 square metres.

A Stockland spokesperson said the partners are now focused on a "world class logistics precinct which does not include a data centre as part of the amended Concept Masterplan", ABC reported. Investing.com, citing the company's confirmation, said the project will go ahead without a data centre in its next planning stage. The 18.3-hectare site on the Cooks River sits near Sydney Airport and Port Botany, and the logistics scheme is not cancelled.

The reversal removes a new load that Sydney's grid and water network would otherwise have had to plan for. The reports Voltgrid reviewed give no megawatt figure for the Arncliffe building, so its power demand is unknown. Floor area alone does not convert to MW, and neither Stockland nor the outlets state the capacity.

Where the Cooks Cove plan stands

ABC puts the wider logistics precinct at an estimated A$3.5 billion. The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader described the Cooks Cove concept proposal as an A$2.8 billion redevelopment in October, so the two outlets use different project values. The proposal is a State Significant Development, to be assessed by the New South Wales Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, the Leader reported. The Leader also reported that the data centre first appeared in concept plans in June, and that Bayside Council had asked the state government to exclude it.

Stockland said the amended plan keeps a one-kilometre public foreshore link along the Cooks River, the future delivery of the 14-hectare Pemulwuy Park, road upgrades and active-transport connections, per ABC. The company said it will keep talking to stakeholders as planning continues.

Opposition and the wider Sydney pattern

The community group Stop the Cooks River AI Project (SCRAP) called the outcome a "victory for people power". Organiser Paddy Gibson cited the river's ecology, power use and possible water contamination, and the group said it will keep campaigning against the logistics hub and for a ban on all new AI data centres. Bayside Greens councillor Peter Strong, who led the council's opposition, said the decision should tell the state government that councils need more say over data centres.

ABC described it as the latest in a series of Sydney data centres dropped after community opposition. It said an AirTrunk data centre proposed in Lane Cove was also dropped, as was another project in Guildford in September. Neither ABC nor Investing.com links AirTrunk to the Arncliffe site. As Voltgrid reported, AirTrunk is still expanding in the city, with an A$4.25 billion green loan for its Sydney SYD3 campus.

Goodman Group's A$1.1 billion Project Pluto data centre at Merrylands remains proposed, ABC said, and local residents are rallying against it. Investing.com added that NEXTDC put development plans on hold in October after public opposition delayed power supply to a major Melbourne project, and that it cut its outlook. It also said Firmus Grid shelved a stock-market listing, which Voltgrid covered when Nvidia was reportedly in talks to invest in Firmus.

What is not confirmed yet

Stockland has not said in the statements reported that opposition caused the decision. ABC and Investing.com frame it as the result of community pressure, while the company's own line stresses the site's suitability for logistics. Voltgrid found no Stockland ASX release on the change.

Two policy dates matter for the next Sydney sites. The New South Wales government released a data centre policy framework in August, and a parliamentary inquiry report said such guidelines should have come before any planning fast-track for data centres, ABC reported. The government has until February 2027 to respond. Whether Stockland later proposes a data centre elsewhere, and whether the amended masterplan is approved as lodged, are both open.