NEXTDC is seeking approval for a 65-metre, 90MW data centre about 50 metres from the entrance of Macquarie Park metro station. Data Centres Australia chief executive Belinda Dennett defended the proposal on ABC Radio Sydney on Thursday, and the Sydney Morning Herald reported it the same day.
The operator lodged the environmental impact statement on 11 July 2024, and the application was open for public comment from 1 to 28 August 2024.
The Macquarie Park state-led rezoning took effect on 27 November 2024, with capacity for 9,600 new homes. City of Ryde’s submission to the NSW parliamentary inquiry says a 2024 amendment inserted data centres into the Ryde planning rules as prohibited in the E2 Commercial Centre zone, which is the zone this site sits in.
An application is assessed under the controls in force when it was lodged, so SSD-63168959 remains under assessment. This application promises 942 construction jobs and approximately 490 full-time roles once operating. The social impact assessment lodged with it, quoted in council’s submission, rates the project’s contribution to activating Macquarie Park as medium-negative and records that data centres generate low levels of employment once running.
Council put four questions to the applicant on 30 August 2024: how many people would be employed on site, the average number on site, how many of the 490 would be new rather than relocated roles, and over what timeframe the 490 would be reached. None has a published answer in the material open for public comment.
NEXTDC uploaded 45 amendment documents on 21 November 2025. Technical data hall space fell from 33,643sqm to 33,142sqm. Office, retail and innovation hub space rose from 13,292sqm to 14,143sqm. The height stayed at 65 metres and the power draw at 90MW.
NEXTDC plans more than 80MW of IT load at the site with a first stage near 20MW, and its 20 April 2026 investor presentation assigned roughly A$500 million of FY27 capital expenditure to it. That presentation had early works starting by 30 June 2026. The portal lists the application as More Information Required and no revised date has been published.
Ryde counts five data centres operating in the area and seven more proposed in Macquarie Park.
