Resource consent conditions for Datagrid’s AI data centre in Makarewa will not be reviewed by the Southland District Council, an independent hearing commissioner has decided. 

The decision followed consideration of information provided by the Southland Sustainable Resource Coalition (SSRC), members of the public and Datagrid itself, a statement from the council on Friday said.

The council granted consent in March, but SSRC asked that the council reviewed the consent conditions with respect to its concerns around noise. 

Of note, the group had concerns about low frequency noise, cooling system noise, baseline noise, whether important information was omitted from the original assessment and whether additional consent conditions were required.

However, the council said before initiating a review, certain conditions needed to be met.

Firstly, the council had to be satisfied an adverse effect on the environment might arise that was not foreseen when the application was initially considered and that it was appropriate to address that effect through a review of the consent conditions.

Or, the information supplied by the applicant contained inaccuracies which influenced the decision to grant consent, and consequently more appropriate conditions were needed.

A review could not be initiated due to a disagreement with the methodology or conclusions of the initial assessment, the council said.

The council statement said the commissioner had found the information presented to the council had not met the threshold to justify a review.

The council noted an adverse environmental effect was foreseen when the initial consent was granted, and the information Datagrid provided was accurate.

It would continue to monitor compliance with consent conditions, investigate complaints and concerns and undertake compliance monitoring once the facility had become operational, the council said. — Allied Media