Consultants cold-calling for land

A Sydney consultancy firm has been contacting residents in Nook, near Sheffield in north-west Tasmania, asking to buy agricultural land for an AI data centre project.

Greens raise concerns in parliament

Greens MP Vica Bayley questioned the appropriateness of locals finding out about the proposal from a consultancy firm rather than through official government channels at a state parliamentary energy committee hearing.

Project B in feasibility stage

Acting Coordinator-General Dennis Hendriks confirmed the proposal is project B, a two hundred to three hundred megawatt data centre in the feasibility stage in the north-west.

Land near upgraded transmission line

The consultants are seeking agricultural land adjacent to a substation recently upgraded as part of the north-west transmission line, according to Bayley's account of what locals were told.

Farmer warns of property devaluation

Wade Rockliff, a Sheffield farmer, said the data centre would be bigger than the one at Bell Bay and would devalue neighbouring properties and cause community tension.

“it's going to cause huge tension with their neighbours because if they build some monstrosity, they're talking bigger than the one that's going in at Bell Bay, so it's a massive data centre, everyone's properties around it are going to devalue.”

Government encourages community engagement

A government spokesperson said no final site has been confirmed and encouraged the proponent to engage early and openly with the local community.

Firmus denies involvement in proposal

AI data centre company Firmus Technologies, which has three projects underway in Tasmania, previously said it was not behind any of the six confidential new proposals.