Saint John city council’s decision to expand the Spruce Lake Industrial Park for heavy industry use is being challenged this week, with a judicial review inside New Brunswick’s Court of King’s Bench. The community group “Save Lorneville” – which is opposed to a proposed AI data centre being built within the expanded park – alleges council’s decision last year was predetermined. “We argue that the evidence supports a finding that members of council approached the statutory hearing with a closed mind, such that refusal of the expansion was no longer genuinely on the table,” says a pre-hearing brief submitted by Adam Wilkins, Christopher Watson, and Shayne Galbraith of the “Save Lorneville” group. City council’s approval to rezone the industrial park removes one hurdle for a proposed data centre that’s being pitched by VoltaGrid LLC (based out of Texas) and Beacon Data Centres (based out of Alberta). The proposed 390-megawatt data centre (which is currently under provincial regulatory review) would be built on a 120-hectare parcel of land within the expanded industrial park. In a statement, the City of Saint John says it “respects the judicial review process and the right of individuals and community groups to seek judicial review of municipal decisions,” but offered no other comment, citing an active court case. In a statement, Beacon Data Centres says it’s not a party to the judicial review and “as a result is not in a position to provide comment.” The judicial review is happening as the New Brunswick government launches a one-month public consultation of data centres being developed in the province. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
