NO DATA CENTRES IN IPSWICH — PROTECT OUR WATER, WILDLIFE & COMMUNITY
The issue
NO DATA CENTRES IN IPSWICH.
STOP DUMPING IN OUR GROUNDS!
Our water. Our wildlife. Our power. Our community.
Ipswich has carried Queensland’s industrial and waste burden for decades. We refuse to become Big Tech’s next sacrifice zone.
A major data centre is now proposed for Swanbank. The current application is code assessable, with NO PUBLIC NOTIFICATION REQUIRED : meaning the people who live here have NO FORMAL SUBMISSION PROCESS despite the scale and permanence of what is proposed.
This is not just another warehouse.
Data centres consume extraordinary amounts of electricity and, depending on their cooling system, water. Infrastructure Australia estimates a 100 MW data centre can consume roughly 350 million to 2.2 billion litres of water every year — equivalent to the annual water use of about 2,200–13,750 households.
The Swanbank proposal is particularly alarming because:
- Our drinking water is at stake. The applicant proposes the public drinking-water network as a primary water source. Other Queensland communities are already acting: Toowoomba Council has JUST voted to develop a policy PREVENTING future data centres from consuming its drinking water.
- Koala habitat and all wildlife are at stake. The proposed development affects land identified as core koala habitat. Once mature habitat is cleared and fragmented, it cannot simply be replaced with landscaping.
- Residents could live with industrial noise 24 hours a day. Data centres contain large banks of cooling equipment, fans, transformers and generators. Overseas communities living beside them report persistent low-frequency humming and sleep disruption. Scientific evidence independently links chronic environmental noise with sleep disturbance and adverse health effects.
- Water impacts are not hypothetical. Families beside Meta's huge Georgia data-centre development have reported wells losing pressure and becoming contaminated with sediment, leaving water unusable and damaging household appliances. The complaints became serious enough to attract US EPA scrutiny and current investigations
- Air pollution can accompany the enormous power demand. Reuters documented pollution concerns around xAI's data-centre power infrastructure, where dozens of gas turbines were installed near residential communities.
- The community can carry the burden while corporations take the benefit. Data centres require huge amounts of land, energy and infrastructure but are highly automated once constructed; permanent employment is relatively modest.
- Energy costs matter. Australian energy and community organisations warn that poorly planned data-centre growth can strain electricity networks and potentially INCREASE retail electricity prices if new generation and infrastructure do not keep pace.
And this expansion is happening before Australia has even finished deciding how these facilities should be regulated. A Federal Senate inquiry is currently examining whether Australia's existing laws adequately protect communities, water, energy systems and the environment from rapid AI and data-centre development.
This is bigger than one building.
It is about who gets to decide what happens to Ipswich. Our home. Our backyard.
We should not hand control of our land, drinking water, electricity capacity and environment to powerful corporations and multinational technology interests while the people who actually live here are pushed out of the decision.
Technology should serve communities. Communities should not be sacrificed to serve technology.
We call on Ipswich City Council and the Queensland Government to:
STOP the Swanbank data centre.
STOP new data-centre approvals in Ipswich.
Protect our drinking water and power supply.
Protect koalas, wildlife and remaining habitat.
Require genuine community consultation and independent environmental, health, noise, water and energy assessments before any future proposals can proceed.
Ipswich has given enough.
Our home is not Big Tech's resource colony. Ipswich deserves better! Our community deserves better!
285
The issue
NO DATA CENTRES IN IPSWICH.
STOP DUMPING IN OUR GROUNDS!
Our water. Our wildlife. Our power. Our community.
Ipswich has carried Queensland’s industrial and waste burden for decades. We refuse to become Big Tech’s next sacrifice zone.
A major data centre is now proposed for Swanbank. The current application is code assessable, with NO PUBLIC NOTIFICATION REQUIRED : meaning the people who live here have NO FORMAL SUBMISSION PROCESS despite the scale and permanence of what is proposed.
This is not just another warehouse.
Data centres consume extraordinary amounts of electricity and, depending on their cooling system, water. Infrastructure Australia estimates a 100 MW data centre can consume roughly 350 million to 2.2 billion litres of water every year — equivalent to the annual water use of about 2,200–13,750 households.
The Swanbank proposal is particularly alarming because:
- Our drinking water is at stake. The applicant proposes the public drinking-water network as a primary water source. Other Queensland communities are already acting: Toowoomba Council has JUST voted to develop a policy PREVENTING future data centres from consuming its drinking water.
- Koala habitat and all wildlife are at stake. The proposed development affects land identified as core koala habitat. Once mature habitat is cleared and fragmented, it cannot simply be replaced with landscaping.
- Residents could live with industrial noise 24 hours a day. Data centres contain large banks of cooling equipment, fans, transformers and generators. Overseas communities living beside them report persistent low-frequency humming and sleep disruption. Scientific evidence independently links chronic environmental noise with sleep disturbance and adverse health effects.
- Water impacts are not hypothetical. Families beside Meta's huge Georgia data-centre development have reported wells losing pressure and becoming contaminated with sediment, leaving water unusable and damaging household appliances. The complaints became serious enough to attract US EPA scrutiny and current investigations
- Air pollution can accompany the enormous power demand. Reuters documented pollution concerns around xAI's data-centre power infrastructure, where dozens of gas turbines were installed near residential communities.
- The community can carry the burden while corporations take the benefit. Data centres require huge amounts of land, energy and infrastructure but are highly automated once constructed; permanent employment is relatively modest.
- Energy costs matter. Australian energy and community organisations warn that poorly planned data-centre growth can strain electricity networks and potentially INCREASE retail electricity prices if new generation and infrastructure do not keep pace.
And this expansion is happening before Australia has even finished deciding how these facilities should be regulated. A Federal Senate inquiry is currently examining whether Australia's existing laws adequately protect communities, water, energy systems and the environment from rapid AI and data-centre development.
This is bigger than one building.
It is about who gets to decide what happens to Ipswich. Our home. Our backyard.
We should not hand control of our land, drinking water, electricity capacity and environment to powerful corporations and multinational technology interests while the people who actually live here are pushed out of the decision.
Technology should serve communities. Communities should not be sacrificed to serve technology.
We call on Ipswich City Council and the Queensland Government to:
STOP the Swanbank data centre.
STOP new data-centre approvals in Ipswich.
Protect our drinking water and power supply.
Protect koalas, wildlife and remaining habitat.
Require genuine community consultation and independent environmental, health, noise, water and energy assessments before any future proposals can proceed.
Ipswich has given enough.
Our home is not Big Tech's resource colony. Ipswich deserves better! Our community deserves better!
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Petition created on 21 August 2026