GreenSquareDC · Hazelmere, City of Swan data center, City of Swan, Western Australia

GreenSquareDC withdrew its application for a 120MW data center on Stirling Crescent in Hazelmere, in the City of Swan about 15km from central Perth, Western Australia, on May 14, 2026, days before a state development assessment panel was due to decide it. The City of Swan received 1,897 submissions on the plan, 1,836 of them objections, and the city's planning staff had recommended refusal because the backup diesel generators would be too loud. The day before the withdrawal, councillors voted 11-2 for Mayor Tania Richardson to speak against the proposal at the panel meeting on May 19.

The roughly 15,000 sqm building was planned north of Stirling Crescent, south of the Helena River and east of the Helena River Steiner School, a kindergarten and primary school. A GreenSquareDC spokesperson said the site sits next to existing power infrastructure at the Guildford power terminal, so the facility could connect without new transmission corridors. It would have been the company's first data center in Western Australia; GreenSquareDC launched in October 2022 and was acquired by the Swiss private equity firm Partners Group in March 2025.

"However, city staff cannot accept that the potential for noise exceedance by the operation of the data centre in an emergency back-up power scenario and its potential nuisance and adverse impact to the amenity of so broad a residential area should be tolerable," wrote Phillip Russell, the City of Swan's statutory planning manager. "It is approximately 40m from the river channel, adjacent to a conservation wetland, located on two Aboriginal heritage sites, next to a primary school and in close proximity to private residences," said Francesca Flynn, executive director of the Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Association. Residents also raised water demand, diesel storage and the short consultation period, and a petition signed by more than 1300 people led the city to extend the deadline for submissions to March 30. CEO Charles Penny wrote that the method used to assess generator noise was "unrealistic and impractical" and that the company still believed the development was "an appropriate use for this established industrial site in Hazelmere." Hasluck MP Tania Lawrence called the withdrawal "a major win off the back of community coming together."

City of Swan councillor Sarah Howlett said she remained concerned that Western Australia classifies data centres as "warehouses" for land purposes. In September 2026, Business News reported that CDC Data Centres had unveiled plans for a separate 192-megawatt data centre in Hazelmere, its second planned development in the state.