For over 50 years, Ford's manufacturing plant in Broadmeadows, Melbourne, was renowned as the home of the iconic Falcon and considered "the manufacturing heartland of Australia," according to Basem Abdo, the federal member for Calwell.
A decade after the plant's closure, Singaporean digital infrastructure firm Zerra DC has proposed a $1.1 billion project dubbed "Project Dune" to develop a massive data centre on the former Ford site. The centre is expected to draw 336MW of power across six buildings and will take 12 years to complete.
Local residents, including Zoe, a former Ford employee living nearby, have voiced concerns about the data centre's impact, noting that operations involving batteries will run 24 hours a day.
Zerra DC acknowledged these concerns in a statement, saying, "We understand that a proposal of this scale can raise genuine questions and concerns for nearby residents and businesses, and we recognise that some people feel they have not had enough opportunity to be heard." The company began community engagement in late May, distributing information to over 1,000 households and 470 industrial businesses, supported by translated materials and direct outreach.
The firm described the redevelopment as "a highly-productive long-term use of industrial land" and stated it had carefully reviewed community feedback, submitting a detailed response to the Department of Transport and Planning on August 7.
Basem Abdo emphasized the need for the project to align with national standards and provide long-term employment pathways similar to those offered by the region's manufacturing industry. He said, "People need to see that it offers a pathway to employment, a pathway to good, secure, well-paying jobs that offer them a career, which was what this site was about and which is what this site should be about."
Victoria's Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny declined to comment directly, but a government spokesperson noted that "every proposal is considered on its merits" and it would be inappropriate to comment further while the proposal is under consideration.
The transformation of the former Ford factory into a data centre marks a significant shift in the use of industrial land in Broadmeadows, reflecting Australia's evolving economic landscape and the rise of AI technology.
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