Councillor Heather Champion - Wingecarribee

31/08/2026

27/08/2026

Wendy Tuckerman MP this is disappointing to see. Does the Liberal Party support the Cloud Carrier Gas Plant and Data Centre proposal in Moss Vale?

21/08/2026

Stop the Gas Plant Campaigner Jess takes us inside the plans for 30 Douglas Road, Moss Vale, explaining what has already been approved and what could come next.

The development is unfolding in several stages, the combined facility would create 703.2 MW of gas-fired generation dedicated to powering an unknown number of private data centres, not supplying electricity to our grid or reducing our power bills.

Please watch, share and help more people understand what is being proposed for the Southern Highlands.
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20/08/2026

Thank you so much to the Council staff for preparing the submission and to all our Councillors who decided to take this bold position!

And HUGE THANKS to Jess, Kylie, Jacqui, Claire and Maree for their leadership at Stop the Gas Plant - Southern Highlands, NSW and to everyone who has been part of building the campaign so far! You are making a difference!

This is such a fantastic win for our community and it's great to see our Council taking a leadership stand at the national level.

Our campaign is working 🙌🏻

UNANIMOUS WIN FOR THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS!

In an absolutely explosive result at Wingecarribee Shire Council last night, our fantastic Councillors voted UNANIMOUSLY to adopt a fierce and uncompromising position against the off-grid gas plants proposed for 30 Douglas Road (and any future ‘data centre’ projects like them)!

Council was already taking a pretty great stance against unregulated Data Center growth in their submission to the Federal Inquiry into AI and Data Centres, but Councillor Heather Champion - Wingecarribee secured unanimous support for a few important changes to the draft:

NO NEW FOSSIL FUELS: Heather’s changes closed the "last resort" loophole. Council will amend their submission to demand a strict prohibition on any data centre enabling new or expanded fossil fuel generation.

A REAL PUBLIC BENEFIT TEST: In their submission, Council will now demand that developers prove a substantial community benefit and strict infrastructure capacity before any project is even considered.

FEDERAL MORATORIUM CALL: Wingecarribee will join Penrith City Council and others calling for an immediate, Commonwealth-legislated moratorium on all new data centre approvals until the binding 2027 national environmental standards are in and operational.

FIGHTING THE STATE FAST TRACK: The General Manager will now write directly to Federal Ministers, our local MP Carol Berry and the NSW Planning Minister, expressing urgent concern that NSW state planning reforms are trying to fast-track data centre assessments while a federal regulatory gap exists.

A massive, heartfelt thank you to Councillor Heather Champion - Wingecarribee for drafting and getting full-chamber support support for this critical amendment and to every single one of you who has signed our petition, shared our website, and stood with us. There is more work to be done, but what an awesome outcome for Council this week.

Have you lodged your own submission to the Federal Inquiry into AI and Data Centres yet? It’s open until the end of the month. Head to: https://stopthegasplant.com/submissions/how-to-submit to see ours and to submit your own.

19/08/2026

We need a data centre moratorium now! Email your councillors and ask them to support my amendment calling for a pause on approvals until we have Australian Standards that protect environment and communities.

13/08/2026

If it's right it's right

13/08/2026

How did one enormous gas-fired power proposal become a series of separate developments?

House designer, Jess Ryal takes us inside the plans for 30 Douglas Road, Moss Vale, clearly explaining what has already been approved—and what could come next.

The development is unfolding in stages:
🔹 A 14 MW gas-fired power plant has been approved but not yet built.
🔹 A second gas plant of just over 16 MW is currently before the Land and Environment Court.
🔹 A massive 673 MW gas-fired power plant is beginning the NSW Government’s State Significant Development process.

Together, these proposals would create 703.2 MW of gas-fired generation—dedicated to powering private data centres, not supplying electricity to local homes or reducing our power bills.

Jess’s presentation helps us see the cumulative scale of the development and understand why each stage matters.

Please watch, share and help more people understand what is being proposed for the Southern Highlands.

12/08/2026

Can you believe our fight to stop the gas plant is getting international attention?

So grateful to be interviewed by JiSu Kang and her translator Jay from Hankook Ilbo, a Korean daily newspaper from Seoul, Korea.

JiSu is a Climate reporter who heard about our fight against the gas plant and data centre, and flew to Australia to come to our Forum on Sunday and find out how the data centre boom is being handled differently in Australia and Korea.

They have spent days in the Highlands talking with community members and campaigners, doing in-depth interviews and exploring what's motivating our fight, and what we hope governments will do to regulate data centre development and protect our region.

Thank you JiSu and Jay for sharing our community’s fight with the world!

11/08/2026

Since Sunday I have been inundated with emails and messages from concerned community members who are appalled by this proposal. Our community is getting organised and we are going to win this.

Follow us at Stop the Gas Plant - Southern Highlands, NSW to stay up to date on how to take action!