By JO HARRISON
Caption: Armidale Dumaresq Council Mayor Jim Maher and project manager with ADC’s Economic Development, Tourism and Marketing Harold Ritch look over the site on Allingham Street.
A VACANT block of land on Allingham Street close to the Armidale CBD could become a green data storage centre with the potential to employ 250 people.
Armidale Dumaresq Council is calling for expressions of interest from organisations to establishing a green data centre in Armidale. The land on Allingham Street behind the Phoenix Building is on the table and council is yet to determine whether they will lease it or give it away.
Armidale Dumaresq Council Mayor Jim Maher says this is a wonderful opportunity to attract an organisation specialising in green data storage.
“This is exactly the kind of industry that we want to attract to Armidale,” Jim Maher said.
“Ultimately there could be millions of dollars invested in this project and it could employ up to 250 staff – that is a major boost to the Armidale economy.”
Council is currently in early negotiations with two operators who have chosen Armidale for its cooler climate, which will reduce the operator’s energy cost for cooling the building.
“We have been talking with a couple of major players in the field for some time,” Mr Maher said.
“By putting this block of land into the equation we hope to get closer to an outcome.
“It is close to the CBD which is what these organisations want, it is a nice big block and a win-win for both the developers and the city of Armidale.”
The council plans to move quickly once submissions are in from the green data centre operators. This will play a big part in the council’s Digital Economic Strategy and provide secure data storage for many government and non-government organisation across the New England North West.
“This is a clean industry that fits in with Armidale’s image of itself and will showcase the benefits of the NBN, there will be a qualified workforce and the recent Tidy Towns win helps attract this kind of sustainable development to our region.”
Project Manager with ADC’s Economic Development, Tourism and Marketing Harold Ritch said the block on Allingham Street had a number of ideas mooted for the site, including a youth centre.
“We are now looking at other possibilites in relation to the youth centre that might bring it closer to other youth activities in the town,” Mr Ritch said.
“The block is approximately 3600 square metres and the operators we have been talking to say that is an ideal size.
“The first thing is to come to an arrangement with somebody who is prepared to come to town and build a data centre.”
