Save the Mandoon Bilya Campaign

URGENT! Your help is needed to save the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) #

As you may have heard or seen via our socials, there are plans to build a data centre, which would back onto the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River), and be just metres from Trillion Trees and the Helena River Waldorf School.

This development will involve:

• Extensive clearance of mature trees and native vegetation
• Significant 24/7 noise pollution from cooling systems
• Additional exhaust heat expelled into our already warming climate
• Pollution risks to the river and wetlands from waste water, fuel storage etc
• Threatening endangered wildlife like snake neck turtles and black cockatoos that rely on the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River), a registered Aboriginal heritage site and conservation category wetland

Furthermore, there are serious concerns about the proposal itself, which even includes basic errors such as repeatedly referring to “Henley River” rather than Helena River.

Local conservation groups, including the Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Association, have found the proposal is:

• Inconsistent with the local planning scheme, structure plan, state planning policies and water management guidelines

• Incomplete

• Lacking the most basic of site investigations

• Missing essential technical information

URGENT! We only have until March 30 to make our voices heard #

Below are pre-drafted comments to help with submissions. Please use which feels most applicable to you, and edit accordingly. Our voices matter, but right now, they’re being overlooked and undervalued.

Please share this with those in your community to help elevate our cause and redirect this data centre development to a more appropriate, sustainable location.

The City of Swan is not the final decision maker on this application, but their planning team are currently preparing a report for the Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP) so its really important that they receive community submissions to add to this report. The JDAP will include two City of Swan councillors and three expert panellists.

Compatibility Concerns #

I object to the development of the data centre at Lots 14 and 15 Stirling Crescent, Hazelmere. As has been rightly communicated publicly by Bibbul Ngarma Aboriginal Association Incorporated (BNAA), the proposal has a range of serious risks and gaps, including:

• No sewer connection and no viable wastewater plan - this could make it Perth's first data centre proposed without government sewerage or viable wastewater disposal. This is a dangerous precedent to set considering it would be within 40 metres of a river, a Conservation Category Wetland, and a primary school.

• No soil, groundwater or stormwater testing

• Unquantified and massive water use

• No technical basis for stormwater management

• Inconsistent and unresolved power supply details

• No information on fuel storage for 88 generators

• No assessment of emissions, heat, noise or night time light

• No foreshore management plan

• Significant unresolved risks to the river, community and environment

Environmental Concerns #

I object to the development of the data centre at Lots 14 and 15 Stirling Crescent, Hazelmere. For 45+ years, Trillion Trees and hundreds of people in the local community have worked together to create a community nursery and the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) Restoration Project.

Currently, 120 vulnerable volunteers attend the Trillion Trees Community Nursery every week to grow approx. 200,000 native trees each year. Developing a data centre just 200 metres from these sites would be detrimental to the established environmental impact these conservation initiatives are achieving, and have significant negative impacts on the local community contributing to these positive environmental outcomes.

Additionally, the exhaust heat impacts from cooling systems could increase local temperatures by up to 10 degrees, making the surrounding areas unliveable, and also impacting plants, trees and wildlife in the wider environment. The development will also involve clearing trees, which will have a devastating impact on local wildlife, while contributing to an urban heat island effect. This includes threatening endangered wildlife like snake neck turtles and black cockatoos, as well as damage the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River), a registered Aboriginal heritage site and conservation category wetland.

National Concerns #

I object to the development of the data centre at Lots 14 and 15 Stirling Crescent, Hazelmere. The currently proposed location is clearly a residential and community-oriented area, being within walking distance from a primary school, community nursery and the Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) Restoration Project, located on a registered Aboriginal heritage site and conservation category wetland.

Mandoon Bilya (Helena River) has very high ecological, cultural and social significance, with over 40 individual Aboriginal heritage sites registered along its length. We cannot set a precedent that technology companies, property developers, and other corporate bodies can prioritise their needs over that of Indigenous culture and heritage, community wellbeing, children’s livelihoods and education.

There are data centres located throughout WA and across Australia, which are not in residential areas or causing this level of community and environmental threat. I strongly implore the council to object to the location of this development and ensure it happens in a more appropriate and sustainable location.