A DEVELOPMENT application for a $1 million ‘data centre’ at Coffs Harbour’s Airport Enterprise Park has been lodged with Coffs Harbour City Council.

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The development involves construction of an external shell structure around the data centre, known as a solar shield, the installation of associated infrastructure including air conditioning condensers, generators, electrical kiosks, cabling and solar panels, and car parking and landscaping on the Lot 91 site in the Park.

The development application for the telecommunications facility was lodged with Council in December, 2020 by Leading Edge Data Centres, and proposes to use fibre optic cable to create a guided network.

Coffs Harbour City Council general manager Steve McGrath stated at Council’s last meeting on December 10 that Council’s vision for Airport Enterprise Park was to accommodate “high-tech businesses”.

“They’re the sort of businesses that we want to attract to assist the City in its growth,” Mr McGrath stated.

Council is currently seeking to rezone Airport Enterprise Park from SP1 Special Activity (Air Transport Facility) to attract industrial and high-tech businesses into the area.

Council is seeking to lodge a Proponent Led Planning Proposal to request an amendment to the Coffs Harbour Local Environment Plan 2013 for the subdivision, to create three distinct zones within Airport Enterprise Park including retaining areas of SP1 zoning, and creating a B5 (Business Development) precinct and an IN1 (General Industrial) precinct.

The Northern Regional Planning Panel has been delegated by Council to be the planning proposal authority for the rezoning of Airport Enterprise Park, to resolve Council’s conflict of interest in being both the developer of the Park and the regulatory authority, in relation to development of the subdivision.

The development of the proposed Leading Edge Data Centre telecommunications facility is permissible in any zone, with consent under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Infrastructure) 2007 (ISEPP).

Council is currently constructing the 99-lot subdivision at Coffs Harbour Airport which makes up the northern part of the Airport precinct, fronting Hogbin Drive and Christmas Bells Road.

The subdivision was approved by the Joint Regional Planning Panel in 2017, and will deliver a 43-hectare subdivision yielding 23 hectares of leasable land.

Under the recent Coffs Harbour Airport 50-year lease arrangement between Council and Palisade Investment Partners, Council retains responsibility to develop Airport Enterprise Park, with all development applications for businesses within the Park to be lodged with Council for approval.

When the Park has been developed by Council it will become the lessees responsibility.

Leading Edge Data Centres (LEDC) is a technology company building the first Tier III edge data centres across regional Australia to allow businesses and communities in regional towns and cities to have a greater choice to access a stable, reliable and cost effective network.

LEDC data centres work by adding an additional computing platform between the user and the cloud, allowing for faster data transfer.

LEDC is a licensed telecommunications carrier which allows customers to safely store data offsite on servers with 24 hour security and power monitoring.

The facility is proposed to operate on a 24 hour seven day a week basis, but it will be a dark site meaning that it is a secure and unoccupied site.

On average, the proposed site will be serviced once weekly during its first three months of operation for installation and maintenance, then once a month for maintenance purposes if it is approved.

By Emma DARBIN