The Pulse | 12 November 2026

Weighed Together, Paid Later, Built Now: NSW Reshapes Data Centre Rules as Contributions and Consents Move

This week's reporting centres on the rules that govern how large projects are assessed in New South Wales, and on the consents moving through them. 

The Legislative Council Public Accountability and Works Committee tabled Report No. 10 on its data centre inquiry on 5 November 2026, putting 26 recommendations to the NSW Government [3]; the inquiry drew 143 submissions and ran five public hearings alongside an inspection of a working facility [2]; and the first recommendation would change the planning rules for data centres assessed as State significant development so that consent authorities weigh cumulative effects more heavily [3]. A Government response is due on 5 February 2027 [11]. As the report was tabled, the Independent Planning Commission had a 120 megawatt data centre open for submissions until 16 November 2026 [10].

On the delivery side, the week's coverage follows consents and commencements. A re-elected Minns Labor Government would permanently shift local infrastructure contributions from the Construction Certificate stage to the Occupation Certificate stage, and ministerial directions would release more than $900 million already banked by councils under repealed contribution plans [1]. The Housing Delivery Authority recommended that a 2,150-home proposal at Macquarie Park be declared State significant development [4], and the City of Sydney's Forest Lodge rezoning was listed for the Central Sydney Planning Committee on 12 November 2026 [7]. The Independent Planning Commission approved the 1,400 megawatt Baldon Wind Farm on 10 November 2026 [8], European Energy's Mulwala Solar Farm reached full output [6], and construction started on 141 social and affordable homes at Macquarie Park [9].

The Data Centre Inquiry Reports as a 120 Megawatt Application Sits Open for Submissions

The NSW Legislative Council Public Accountability and Works Committee tabled Report No. 10, on its data centre inquiry, on 5 November 2026 [3]. The committee had self-referred the terms of reference on 29 January 2026 [3]. Its inquiry drew 143 submissions and ran five public hearings, alongside an inspection of a working facility [2]. Those giving evidence included residents near proposed sites, councils, academics and policy think tanks, industry bodies and state agencies [2]. Twenty-six recommendations now sit with the Government, most of them directed at how cumulative effects and community concerns are weighed when a data centre is assessed, and the report also reviews the planning framework now in place, the energy and water these facilities draw, and their wider social effects [2]. The committee's timeline sets the Government response down for 5 February 2027 [11].

Four recommendations go to the assessment pathway itself. Recommendation 1 would amend the planning rules for data centres assessed as State significant development under section 4.36 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW), so that a consent authority must give cumulative effects greater weight [3]. Recommendation 3 seeks a review of how communities and councils take part in those assessments, and would oblige both the applicant and the consent authority to deal properly with substantive objections [3]. Recommendation 2 would have the Government examine and then set aside dedicated data centre and innovation precincts, in places where infrastructure can carry them and a strategic case holds [3]. Recommendation 5 would create a public register listing approved and proposed facilities, their electricity and water draw, how they measure against the NSW Data Centre Guidelines, and the cumulative impact work done on them [3].

Energy and water carry their own recommendations. Recommendation 11 would bind operators to match their whole electricity load with renewable generation, measured hour by hour rather than averaged across a year [3]. Recommendation 18 asks that the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal's findings on data centre water pricing be put into effect immediately, so that an applicant meets the efficient cost of servicing its own water demand, including any augmentation its development makes necessary [3]. Recommendation 20 would extend cumulative assessment to water, across clusters as well as single proposals, taking in housing growth, water security across the regions and the customers already on the network [3]. Recommendation 22 would establish a community benefit framework and require every applicant to publish a statement of local benefit within its planning case [3].

Committee Chair Abigail Boyd MLC used the accompanying media release to call on the Government "to impose a moratorium on new AI data centre approvals" [2]. No moratorium sits among the 26 recommendations the committee made [3]. Assessment continued while the report was tabled. The Commission's case register lists the Julius Avenue Data Centre, a proposal to build and run a facility drawing up to 120 megawatts, housed in a building 40 metres tall and served by standby generators, cooling plant, battery storage and a sub-transmission switching station, as open for submissions until 11.59pm on 16 November 2026 [10].

Contributions Move to the Occupation Certificate Stage as Two Housing Pathways Advance

A ministerial media release of 5 November 2026 sets out that a re-elected Minns Labor Government would permanently move local infrastructure contributions, now payable at the Construction Certificate stage, to the Occupation Certificate stage [1]. The release presents the change as cutting upfront costs on housing projects and supporting construction jobs [1]. It records a collective balance above $4.6 billion sitting with councils across the state, and says that as a first step the planning minister would issue directions releasing more than $900 million banked under contribution plans since repealed [1]. The Government also commits to rebuilding the framework that governs how contributions are levied and spent [1].

The release says the Government would work with councils on the cash flow effect of the later payment point, and flags that financing facilities could be extended so local infrastructure work does not stall between payments [1]. Councils that sit on large balances for an unreasonable stretch would see the state step in and deliver the infrastructure itself [1]. On approvals more broadly, the release puts the preparation and assessment of a development application at up to 130 days and a cost of $30,000, and commits to widening exempt and complying pathways so that small refits, internal fitouts, a change of use, altered trading hours or new signage need no full application [1].

The Urban Developer reports that the Housing Delivery Authority, which Premier's Department secretary Michael Coutts-Trotter chairs, has recommended the planning minister declare a 2,150-home proposal at 3-5 Talavera Road, Macquarie Park, to be State significant development, leaving the final call with the minister [4]. Goodman Property Services lodged it through the Housing Delivery Authority pathway as shoptop housing in five towers ranging between 45 and 60 storeys, and seeks no rezoning [4]. The authority judged that the proposal met its criteria and carried state significance as a major residential project [4]. A public park of 1.2 hectares is planned between the site and Goodman's Project Apollo data centre at 4-10 Talavera Road [4].

City Hub Sydney reports that fourteen properties on Parramatta Road at Forest Lodge are before the City of Sydney for rezoning, which would allow more than 1,200 homes: 462 apartments alongside 791 co-living rooms, in buildings rising to 26 storeys [7]. Height limits would lift to 85 metres from the 12 to 15 metres now permitted, running from eight to 17 storeys at the western end and reaching 23 to 26 storeys at the Ross Street corner [7]. An affordable housing contribution equivalent to roughly 80 to 86 dwellings would apply, and at least 15,500 square metres would be set aside for business and other non-residential use, which the council estimates could carry around 375 jobs [7]. The proposal was listed for the Central Sydney Planning Committee on 12 November 2026, with a recommendation to seek a Gateway Determination [7].

A Wind Farm Consent at 1400 Megawatts, a Solar Farm at Full Output and Two Sydney Milestones

The Independent Planning Commission approved the Baldon Wind Farm, SSD-40138508, on 10 November 2026 [8]. Baldon Wind Farm Pty Ltd lodged the application for Goldwind Capital Australia Pty Ltd, across two local government areas, Hay Shire and Murray River, within the South West Renewable Energy Zone and roughly 64 kilometres south west of Hay [8]. The project carries an installed generating capacity of about 1,400 megawatts across as many as 175 turbines standing up to 300 metres to the blade tip, with battery storage of up to 200 megawatts and 400 megawatt hours, and is staged at 46 turbines then 129 [8]. The Commission sat as consent authority under section 4.5(a) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) and section 2.7 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Planning Systems) 2021, the applicant having made a reportable political donation and the Minister having directed a public hearing [8].

Construction is put at roughly 42 months where the stages run consecutively, with a 15 month peak, against an operational life of about 30 years [8]. The Commission inspected the site on 7 October 2026 and held its public hearing the following day, having met through September and October with the applicant, Murray River Council, Hay Shire Council, Edward River Council, Balranald Shire Council and the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure [8]. Turbine components would travel from Port Adelaide, crossing into the state at Euston and running east along the Sturt Highway, a route the oversize and over-mass assessment modelled on a blade length of 90.2 metres and judged workable provided key intersections and roads are upgraded [8]. The Commission found the application met the statutory tests, sat consistently with state policy, and carried benefits that on balance outweighed its adverse effects, and consented subject to the conditions in the instrument of consent [8].

ESD News reports that European Energy's 31 megawatt Mulwala Solar Farm is running at full output now that construction, energisation and commissioning are complete, with a 25 megawatt, 100 megawatt hour battery to be added [6]. An offtake agreement with the data centre operator AirTrunk gives the project a contracted long term buyer for its output [6]. Construction opened in September 2025 and generated upwards of 250 jobs locally, with the site workforce peaking at 73 in a day, and the build took upwards of 40,000 working hours across some 50,000 panels and close to 7,000 piles [6]. European Energy Australia head and vice president Catriona McLeod said "we are now delivering renewable electricity in New South Wales" [6].

The Post reports that work has started on a 14 storey building at 6 Halifax Street, Macquarie Park, which will deliver 141 social and affordable homes inside Landcom's master-planned Lachlan's Line community, with residents moving in from 2028 [9]. The community housing provider Link Wentworth leads the project, with Homes NSW as investment partner and capital drawn from round one of the Housing Australia Future Fund, the Commonwealth's $10 billion vehicle [9]. Separately, the Property Council of Australia recorded on 6 November 2026 that the Martin Place Integrated Station Development took the 2026 Rider Levett Bucknall Australian Development of the Year award, winning four further categories: best office development, best mixed use development, best commercial sustainable development, and best workplace fitout and design [5]. Rider Levett Bucknall NSW Managing Director Paul Skinner said the project took "10 million hours of work by 10,000 people" [5].

Final Thoughts

Two patterns run through the week's coverage. The first is attention to how combined effects are assessed rather than to individual consents. The committee's opening recommendation would give cumulative effects greater weight in data centre assessments, its twentieth would carry the same test across to water and across clusters of sites, and its fifth would publish demand and cumulative impact work on a single register [3]. In the same week a 120 megawatt proposal sat open for submissions [10], and a 2,150-home scheme was recommended for declaration beside an approved data centre [4]. The composition of that reporting was consistent with combined effects being treated as the live question rather than the merits of any single application.

The second pattern is sequencing. A contributions liability was described as moving to a later certificate rather than disappearing [1]; a rezoning was reported as it went to a planning committee seeking a Gateway Determination, not at approval [7]; a wind farm consent followed a site inspection, a public hearing and council meetings held across September and October [8]; and a solar farm was traced through construction, energisation and commissioning before full output [6]. Finished work was reported the same way, an award citing the hours behind a completed precinct [5] and a groundbreaking pointing to occupation in 2028 [9]. The reporting was consistent with programmes being recorded as staged steps rather than single announcements.

1.   NSW Government (5 November 2026). Re-elected Minns Labor Government to boost productivity and deliver more homes and jobs. https://www.nsw.gov.au/ministerial-releases/re-elected-minns-labor-government-to-boost-productivity-and-deliver-more-homes-and-jobs  

2.   Parliament of New South Wales, Legislative Council Public Accountability and Works Committee (5 November 2026). Media Release: Inquiry into Data Centres, Report Tabled. [Media Release found under "Other Documents"] https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/parliamentary-business/committees/inquiry-details?committeeInquiryId=3169

3.   Parliament of New South Wales, Legislative Council Public Accountability and Works Committee (5 November 2026). Report No. 10, Data Centres. [Report 10 found under "Report and Government Responses"] https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/parliamentary-business/committees/inquiry-details?committeeInquiryId=3169

4.   The Urban Developer | by Hudson Farr (5 November 2026). Goodman Plots 2150-Home Scheme Near Its Macquarie Park Data Centre. https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/goodman-2150-homes-data-centre-macquarie-park-nsw 
   

5.   Property Council of Australia (6 November 2026). Martin Place Integrated Station Development the 'jewel in Sydney's crown' and 2026 Australian Development of the Year. https://www.propertycouncil.com.au/media-releases/martin-place-integrated-station-development-the-jewel-in-sydneys-crown-and-2026-australian-development-of-the-year

6.    ESD News | by Nadia Howland (9 November 2026). European Energy's Mulwala Solar Farm now fully operational. https://esdnews.com.au/european-energys-mulwala-solar-farm-now-fully-operational  
   

7.  City Hub Sydney | by Carelle Snounou (10 November 2026). Parramatta Road Set For Major Rezoning With 573 Jobs At Stake. https://cityhub.com.au/parramatta-road-set-for-major-rezoning-with-573-jobs-at-stake
   

8.  Independent Planning Commission NSW (10 November 2026). Baldon Wind Farm SSD-40138508, Statement of Reasons for Decision. https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/baldon-wind-farm

9.  The Post (10 November 2026). Macquarie Park Affordable Housing Project Breaks Ground. https://thepost.sydney/macquarie-park-affordable-housing-project 

10.  Independent Planning Commission NSW (accessed 11 November 2026). Cases register, Julius Avenue Data Centre. https://www.ipcn.nsw.gov.au/cases

11.  Parliament of New South Wales, Legislative Council Public Accountability and Works Committee (accessed 11 November 2026). Inquiry into Data Centres, inquiry webpage and timeline. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/parliamentary-business/committees/inquiry-details?committeeInquiryId=3169 

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