Stop the Gas Plant Southern Highlands
Documents

Our Submissions

This campaign is growing and so is our voice! We have made submissions to planning processes, government inquiries, and parliamentary consultations examining data centres, energy policy, and planning reform across NSW and federally. These documents set out our concerns in detail. We are publishing them here so the community can see exactly what has been raised, and where.

How to make your own submission

Make your own submission

Step-by-step guides for current planning processes and inquiries.

stopthegasplant.com/submissions/how-to-submit

How to make your own submission
Cover for SUBMISSION — GETTING IT RIGHT: BUILDING AI INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WORKS FOR AUSTRALIA

SUBMISSION — GETTING IT RIGHT: BUILDING AI INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WORKS FOR AUSTRALIA

9 October 2026Submitted to: Office of AI, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet — Public Consultation

Our submission to the federal consultation on national standards for large data centres. We use the Moss Vale proposal as a worked example of how a data centre that generates its own power and never connects to the grid could fall outside the draft standards. We ask for thresholds based on design capacity including on-site generation, every stage of a site counted together, the standards applied to projects already in the pipeline, real renewable supply for off-grid facilities, national minimums for siting and consultation, more time for community groups to respond, and a pause on final decisions for all large data centres until the standards are in force.

Read submissionRead our responses to the consultation questions
Cover for SUBMISSION — REFORMING ELECTRICITY NETWORK CONNECTION AND COST RECOVERY ARRANGEMENTS FOR DATA CENTRES IN NSW

SUBMISSION — REFORMING ELECTRICITY NETWORK CONNECTION AND COST RECOVERY ARRANGEMENTS FOR DATA CENTRES IN NSW

13 September 2026Submitted to: NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water — Public Consultation

Our submission to the NSW Government's consultation on data centre network connection and cost recovery reform. We support the direction of the reforms, and highlight a gap the paper doesn't address: a data centre that generates its own power on site — like the one proposed at Moss Vale — falls outside every one of the ten proposals in the paper, because they're all enforced through the network connection agreement.

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Cover for OBJECTION — DA 26/0352, 30 DOUGLAS ROAD, MOSS VALE

OBJECTION — DA 26/0352, 30 DOUGLAS ROAD, MOSS VALE

31 August 2026Submitted to: Wingecarribee Shire Council & the NSW Land and Environment Court (LEC Proceedings No. 2025/448084)

Our formal objection to the re-exhibited DA 26/0352 (a 16.5 MW gas generation expansion and 30 MW battery energy storage system), lodged with Council and the Land and Environment Court. It sets out the statutory and technical grounds for refusal, including pollution-licensing thresholds, designated-development classification for the battery, unmodelled flood and catchment risk, and gaps in the site contamination assessment.

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Cover for SUBMISSION — SENATE INQUIRY INTO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DATA CENTRES

SUBMISSION — SENATE INQUIRY INTO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DATA CENTRES

26 June 2026Submitted to: Senate Environment and Communications References Committee

Our submission to the federal Senate inquiry into AI and data centres, offering the Moss Vale proposal as a live case study in what happens when federal policy expectations carry no legal force. We make 10 recommendations focused on enforcement, cumulative impact assessment, agency consultation, and community protection.

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Cover for SUBMISSION - NSW INQUIRY INTO DATA CENTRES

SUBMISSION - NSW INQUIRY INTO DATA CENTRES

18 June 2026Submitted to: Public Accountability & Works Committee, NSW Legislative Council

Our submission to the NSW Parliament's inquiry into data centres, setting out how the Moss Vale proposal illustrates failures in the current planning system — and what needs to change.

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Cover for SUBMISSION - DRAFT STATEWIDE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION PLAN

SUBMISSION - DRAFT STATEWIDE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION PLAN

1 June 2026Submitted to: NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure

Our submission draws on the campaign's direct experience to warn that the proposed reforms would weaken public participation, particularly for regional communities. We call for retaining exhibition requirements near residential areas, abandoning the rigid 28-day window for complex State Significant Developments in favour of a 60–90 day minimum, and publishing a regional equity assessment before the plan is finalised.

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Aerial view of a Southern Highlands town surrounded by farmlandCommunity gathering under a large tree at a Southern Highlands parkMain street clock tower framed by autumn treesFamilies walking past tulip beds in a Southern Highlands gardenMemorial clock tower and historic building in morning fog
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We'll be in touch only when there's something worth knowing — a key hearing date, a submission window, or a significant development in the case.