NORTHAM residents submitted a petition to the shire calling for greater transparency around a proposed cryptocurrency mining facility as they urge a planning framework review.

At its June 17 ordinary council meeting, councillors unanimously voted to receive the petition and refer it to chief executive officer Debbie Terelinck for consideration.

Organiser Amber Balfour-Cunningham said the petition sought greater public reporting, policy review and community engagement rather than asking council to oppose the proposal.

“The petition does not ask council to prejudge the issue,” she said.

“It asks council to provide the community with clear information and to consider whether the current planning framework adequately deals with data centres, crypto mining server centres, or similar intensive technology infrastructure.”

The petition requests council prepare a public report identifying approved, proposed and publicly known data centre developments, hold a community information forum, review its planning processes and write to the planning minister seeking amendments to planning legislation where public consultation would be required for major data centre developments.”

Ms Balfour-Cunningham said the term “data centre” was being used in its ordinary public sense to describe facilities housing computer servers, including those used for cryptocurrency mining.

She said although the proposed development at 239 Yilgarn Avenue had been approved as a warehouse or storage use under the local planning framework, development assessment documents for another proposal at the site referred to a “crypto mining server centre”.

“The concern is not only the planning label applied to the approval, but the actual nature, scale, servicing requirements and community impacts of this type of facility,” she said.

Ms Balfour-Cunningham said residents wanted an open and balanced public meeting where the community could better understand what had been approved, what infrastructure might be required and how similar proposals would be managed in future.

She said issues such as electricity demand, noise, cooling requirements, emergency management and cumulative impacts warranted further public discussion.

“The community is not asking council to be anti-development,” she said.

“It’s asking council to make sure the development is properly assessed and supported by an appropriate planning framework.”

Earlier in the meeting, Mrs Terelinck said the development application related to the storage of servers for cryptocurrency mining and had therefore been approved as a warehouse under the planning framework.

She also said that monitoring power and water usage was not a planning consideration under the legislation governing the application.

The officer report noted that receiving the petition did not determine the planning issues raised and that the matter would instead be considered administratively following referral to the chief executive officer.

The petition’s receipt comes on the back of months of scrutiny by Ms Balfour-Cunningham over what the new centre would mean for the region.

As reported in Northam industrial hub opening delayed (Echo News, June 19), the new AvonWest logistics and enterprise hub isn’t scheduled to open until the end of 2027.

In the report, Procon Developments Australia corporate affairs and business development director Mia Davies said the site’s design incorporated water harvesting so it could reduce its reliance on potable water supplies in the area.