At the September meeting, Merri-bek Council voted unanimously to support a moratorium on the development of data centres. This follows unanimous motions by Hume, Brimbank, Maribyrnong and Melton councils calling for a moratorium on approvals of new data centres and for a public inquiry into the data centre industry in order to develop safeguards.

The moratorium was also discussed at Merri-bek Council’s August meeting, but the vote was split, and there was a miscount.

Climate Action Merri-bek supports a moratorium on data centre developments and has set up a campaign page with resources We are following in particular the campaign in Broadmeadows/Campbellfield against a proposed mega data centre at the former Ford factory. See Facebook page.

The Merri-bek Council motions were intiitated by Cr Sue Bolton. The one from the September meeting read as follows: