A new dawn for data centres?

Since coming into power last year Labour has made it clear that they want to engineer an AI revolution (see here). The Government’s changes to the National Planning Policy Framework introduced a requirement for local planning policies to identify suitable locations for data centres, and created an avenue for development in the Green Belt through its new Grey Belt policy (as discussed here). 

The Government has stated its intent by directly stepping in above planning authorities to grant planning permission – with a hat-trick of permissions authorising the construction of very large data centres in the Green Belt. We consider each of these decisions in turn below:

Court Lane, Iver

Last year the Secretary of State recovered a planning appeal (meaning she recovered the decision-making process which would usually be undertaken by the Planning Inspectorate) following a refusal by Buckinghamshire Council for to the proposed demolition of an industrial estate and its redevelopment as a data centre of up to 65,000 sqm plus a generator yard. 

The Secretary of State considered that the development would constitute inappropriate development in the Green Belt and would result in a loss of openness to the Green Belt. However, she went on to conclude that this was outweighed by other considerations and, accordingly, there were “very special circumstances” to justify the proposal. This included the fact that the site was an optimal location for data centre use, there was a lack of alternative sites to meet demand and the failure to meet the data centre need could have “significant negative consequences for the UK digital economy”. Planning permission was thereby granted, justified by the considerable public benefits of the scheme.

This decision demonstrates that, even before the national planning policy changes, the Government was keen to emphasise the strategic significance of data centres.

Abbots Langley 

At another recovered planning appeal, the Secretary of State granted planning permission for a hyperscaler data centre of up to 84,000 sqm in the Green Belt.  In this appeal, the Secretary of State agreed with the applicant that there was a very significant level of demand in Hemel Hempstead, together with a need for additional capacity – with it estimated that the proposed data centre would provide a third of Hemel Hempstead’s need over the next 5 years. The Secretary of State also attached significant weight to the economic and employment benefits of the scheme.

She concluded that the site did not contribute to the purposes of the Green Belt, there was a demonstrable unmet need and the proposal was in a sustainable location – as such it was not inappropriate development in the Green Belt and instead comprised Grey Belt land under the new policy. Accordingly (unlike in the Court Lane decision) there was no need to demonstrate that there were “very special circumstances” for development in the Green Belt – which has typically proven to be exceptionally hard to overcome. 

This decision evidences that the Government is using its new Grey Belt policy to facilitate data centre delivery at pace.

Woodlands Park, Iver

This recovered appeal concerned another refusal by Buckinghamshire Council, this time against a hyperscaler data centre project on a former landfill site for up to 72,000 sqm delivering 90 MW of capacity across 2 buildings, to include various internal plant, back-up generators and fuel storage.  

It was common ground that hyperscale data centres have specific locational requirements (availability of fibre connections, reliable power, stable ground conditions, outside of areas at risk of flooding etc), such that they can only be located in certain locations, and that hyperscaler public cloud data centres need to be located in clusters. It was, therefore, also common ground that the urgent need for data centres could not be met at another location.

Despite attributing significant weight to the visual harm of the proposal, the Secretary of State also gave significant weight to the need to support economic growth and the lack of available alternative sites.  Benefits of the scheme included addressing the urgent need for capacity in Slough. The Secretary (disagreeing with the Planning Inspector) concluded that the proposal comprised Grey Belt development and was therefore not inappropriate in the Green Belt. 

This is therefore the third case in just over six months since policy changed where the Government has stepped in to, effectively, overrule a local authority decision and allow construction of a data centre in the Green Belt.  

Government support for data centres could not be clearer from these decisions. The national planning policy changes will begin to filter through to decisions at a local level, particularly as developers are encouraged by their decisions to capitalise on Grey Belt policy. Nevertheless, each project will still need to be judged on its own merits – especially need and benefits. It may be that we see an increased focus on alternative sites and evidence of need as local planning authorities become more familiar with the technical requirements for the different types of data centres. 

Read our recent report here, with techUK, the Data Centre Alliance and Copper Consultancy. Where we highlight the importance of data centers for the UK to lead in AI.