In short:
The NSW Department of Planning skipped consultation when issuing application rules for a proposed gas-fired power plant to run a data centre campus in the Southern Highlands.
asserted
Department → skip → Highlands
A Greens MP says an email stating that a legal threat from the developer prompted the decision is "massive cause for concern".
asserted
threat → say → concern
The planning department says the proposal is still in very early stages, and consultation will occur later in the planning process.
asserted
consultation → say → process
The NSW planning department has admitted it failed to consult key agencies before setting assessment requirements for a major gas plant to power a data centre.
asserted
it → admit → centre
The admission follows an email from a senior planning official that said consultation was skipped because the developer threatened legal action.
asserted
developer → follow → action
The proposed 675-megawatt plant at Moss Vale would be one of the largest gas-fired power stations in NSW and would run a data centre campus.
asserted
plant → propose → campus
In December 2025, the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) provided a list of issues the developer was required to investigate before it could apply for an approval known as the Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs).
uncertain
it → provide → Requirements
A community group then emailed the department asking whether agencies such as the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and Sydney Water had been consulted.
asserted
agencies → email → Authority
In a response seen by the ABC, a senior planning official wrote that the department had asked the developer for more information, but had to issue the requirements "quickly and without consultation because the proponent threatened legal action".
asserted
proponent → see → action
DPHI has a statutory requirement to issue the SEARs within 28 days of the scoping report being lodged.
asserted
report → have → days
Greens MLC and planning spokesperson Sue Higginson said the revelation was "shocking".
asserted
revelation → say → ?
"That is massive cause for concern," she said.
asserted
she → say → concern
"The idea that all a corporation needs to do is threaten litigation and then get the response they need — that is a coercive move and if our planning system is so easily coerced, that indicates a deep, broad problem."
asserted
that → need → problem
A Cloud Carrier spokesperson said in a statement that the SEARS process and consultation with agencies was "ultimately a matter for the department".
asserted
process → say → department
"Any legal communications relating to aspects of the planning process are confidential and/or privileged," they said.
asserted
they → relate → process
"We do not intend to comment on those communications and do not waive any privilege attached to them."
Department admits mistake
Under the planning rules in place in December 2025 the department was required to consult relevant public authorities when preparing the SEARs.
asserted
department → intend → SEARs
That rule was removed from the regulation in July 2026.
asserted
rule → remove → July
A DPHI spokesperson admitted the department had made a mistake.
asserted
department → admit → mistake
"In error, public authorities were not consulted before the SEARs were issued but they will be consulted during preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) — and again, when the DA is lodged," the spokesperson said in a statement.
asserted
spokesperson → consult → statement
DPHI did not respond to questions about whether the threat of legal action influenced its decision not to consult agencies.
asserted
threat → respond → agencies
The spokesperson said the SEARs required the applicant to "consult with community, Wingecarribee Shire Council and relevant government agencies including the EPA when preparing the EIS".
asserted
SEARs → say → EIS
"If a development application and EIS is lodged, the proposal will undergo a rigorous all-of-government assessment, and the community will have the opportunity to have their say," they said.
asserted
they → lodge → say
But Ms Higginson said the drafting of SEARS with input from agencies was "a critical step" in the planning process.
asserted
drafting → say → process
"This idea that we just consult the agencies later, it becomes quite a token process," she said.
asserted
she → consult → agencies
"This is why many communities across New South Wales are losing trust and losing faith in the planning system."
asserted
communities → lose → system
In a statement, Planning Minister Paul Scully defended the government’s data centre planning and said the power plant is at the earliest stages of the planning process.
asserted
plant → defend → process
Email read in parliament
asserted
Email → read → parliament
The email was read to a Senate inquiry into AI and Data Centres by Jessica Ryall, a member of protest group Stop the Gas Plant, on Tuesday.
asserted
email → read → Tuesday
"For this large, state-significant development, the EPA has not yet been consulted, Sydney Water hasn't been consulted, the gas company hasn't been consulted, council, Indigenous landholders, nobody," she told the inquiry.
asserted
she → consult → inquiry
"That rule book was published by the department without any of those consultations."
asserted
book → publish → consultations
The federal government has indicated it intends to rule out fossil-fuel-powered data centres in legislation to be introduced early next year.
asserted
it → indicate → legislation
Last week Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said "firming" gas power would be allowed, but data centres would need to "bring their own renewable energy".
asserted
centres → say → energy
Last month the NSW government issued guidelines for data centres that offered faster processing times for projects powered by renewable energy.
asserted
that → issue → energy
But at the end of August Mr Scully confirmed that the department could not prevent other projects, such as the Southern Highlands Data campus, being assessed on merit.
uncertain
projects → confirm → merit
Cloud Carrier previously told the ABC it intends to provide high-level data storage to support AI computing at the Moss Vale site.
asserted
it → tell → site
The Aporia
