A LARGE crowd vented its anger during a rally held outside the City of Swan administration building in Midland on Wednesday this week.

Organised by the Helena Valley river community for responsible development, the demonstration against the proposed Hazelmere data centre continued on to the nearby Midland Town Hall.

The crowd marched down Midland’s streets to chants of, “Hey, ho, no data centre,” as they headed towards the town hall.

Once there, Guildford Association member Christina Hughes and Hazelmere resident and engineer Randal Swick, whose house neighboured the proposed centre, spoke to the rally about the details of the proposal.

There has been a huge community backlash to the proposed $1.1 billion GreenSquare DC Hazelmere data centre project as reported in Proposed new data centre comes under fire.

On March 30 mining watchdog Mineral Policy Institute (MPI) and Murdoch University submitted an objection to the proposed three-storey, 23.5m development due to concerns about its impact on already limited resources.

Helena River Waldorf School parents and friends association vice chair Anita Rowell said if the data centre went ahead it would be right on top of the school with the proponents only allowing a small gap between.

“This is something that should never be allowed,” she said.

Former urban planner and data centre opponent Lindsay Baxter of Midland said the original period given by the City of Swan for data centre public submissions was from March 5 to March 20, 2026.

But Ms Baxter said a planning report was unavailable until well into the public submission period, which had effectively put community on the backfoot for providing informed input.

“On March 13, I had a conversation with Cr Sarah Howlett and expressed concern that there was no planning report accompanying all the documents that were listed on the Swan Engage platform,” she said.

“As a retired urban/town planner, that was the first document I looked for.

“Cr Howlett apparently then spoke to City of Swan (planning staff) and the planning report prepared by consultants Urbis was then loaded onto the Swan Engage platform on or about March 17 or 18, 2026.

“The City of Swan then extended the submission period to March 30.”

The centre sits immediately adjacent to Trillion Trees Australia, a community nursery that has planted over 15 million native trees from Hazelmere since 1979 and the Helena River Waldorf School.

A GreenSquareDC spokesperson said they recognised the strong interest in this project given its proximity to existing businesses, residents and the local school.

“These concerns are taken seriously, and we are committed to engaging constructively throughout the planning process,” they said.

“GreenSquareDC has engaged with the City of Swan and key stakeholders throughout the development of the proposal.

“The project is currently subject to the formal planning assessment process which allows all submissions to be considered in a structured and transparent way.”

They said they would continue to work with the City of Swan and relevant stakeholders as the assessment process progressed.

Member for Hasluck Tania Lawrence said community members had raised concerns about the proposed data centre development and she had written to the relevant state ministers.

“I am seeking clarification on the extent to which the proponent meets the expectations set out for data centres and AI infrastructure under the national AI plan,” Ms Lawrence said.

“These expectations make clear that data centre developments must put the needs of the Australian people first, ensuring direct benefit to the community through jobs, skills and innovation investment while strongly supporting Australia’s clean energy transition and safeguarding water security long-term.

“I have also sought a meeting with the proponent to better understand their plans to underwrite new clean energy, ensure the facility is energy-efficient, contribute fairly to network costs and support grid stability so costs are not passed on to households or businesses.”

When questioned by Echo News, City of Swan said they were unable to comment on specific issues until their responsible authority report on the matter was complete.

The data centre petition maybe accessed on Change.org and the MPI article may be accessed online.