The Goodman Group has formally withdrawn its development application for 'Project Mars,' a proposed $1.2 billion datacentre located in the Sydney suburb of Lane Cove. The decision, confirmed on Monday via the NSW planning portal, marks the end of a project that had faced significant local controversy.

In a statement released on its website, the developer attributed the cancellation to the evolving nature of government policy. The company noted that the regulatory environment for large-scale datacentre infrastructure has changed significantly since the project was first proposed. According to Goodman Group, the decision to 'pull the plug' was made after a thorough review of emerging federal and state-level policies, leading to the conclusion that the project was no longer viable under current or anticipated frameworks.

The project had previously been a point of contention for local residents and community groups, who raised concerns regarding the scale and environmental impact of the facility. While the developer has pointed to external regulatory shifts as the catalyst for the withdrawal, the move effectively halts a development that had become a flashpoint for planning debates in Sydney’s north. As of now, neither the state nor federal government has issued a detailed response regarding the specific regulations that influenced the developer’s decision.