Data centre legislation consultation: councils encouraged to act before 5 November

The consultation seeks feedback on principles that would underpin a new legislative framework regulating the development and operation of data centres in South Australia, including matters relating to energy use, water security, community benefits, transparency and development approvals.

The proposed legislation has potential implications for local government in a range of areas, including land use planning, infrastructure provision, energy demand, water resources, economic development and community expectations.

LGA will be preparing a submission on behalf of the sector and encourages councils to make their own submissions to ensure local government perspectives are directly reflected in the development of the legislation.

We encourage councils to share their submissions with LGA via email: lgasa@lga.sa.gov.au.

The consultation paper proposes a range of principles that could form the basis of future legislation. This includes requirements relating to energy reliability and pricing, sustainable water use, transparency of resource consumption, workforce development, local content opportunities and coordinated approval processes.

Councils looking to develop their response may also find LGA's recent submission to the Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into Artificial Intelligence and Data Centres a useful reference.

This submission highlighted the importance of ensuring data centre development balances economic opportunities with appropriate consideration of infrastructure, planning, environmental and community impacts.

Find out more

To find out more and make a submission visit YourSay website.