The New South Wales government has announced a fast-track pathway for datacentre developments, removing the automatic refusal of applications that do not meet certain criteria.
New planning pathway
The new pathway, announced on Monday, is designed to speed up the assessment of datacentres, which are considered critical infrastructure for the state's digital economy. Under the previous rules, projects that failed to comply with planning requirements were automatically knocked back.
The change means that non-compliant proposals will no longer be automatically rejected. Instead, they will be assessed on their merits, with the possibility of approval subject to conditions.
Industry response
The move has been welcomed by the tech industry, which has argued that the previous approach was too rigid and slowed down investment. A spokesperson for the NSW Planning Department said the new pathway would provide greater flexibility while still maintaining environmental and community standards.
The announcement comes amid a surge in demand for datacentre capacity in Australia, driven by the growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Impact
The fast-track pathway is expected to reduce approval times for datacentres, potentially attracting more investment to the state. It is part of a broader effort by the NSW government to position the state as a leading digital hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
