UK Government Faces Legal Challenge Over Controversial Data Center Approval on Green Belt Land

UK faces legal challenge for attempting to force through data center development

Charities Foxglove and Global Action Plan contested the approval, raising concerns over the vast amounts of power and water data centers require. The U.K. government is facing a legal challenge from campaigners over its decision to override a local authority and wave through development of a new "hyperscale" data center. Last year, the local authority of Buckinghamshire, England, denied planning permission for proposals to build a new 90-megawatt data center on green belt land. The green belt is a term in British town planning that refers to an area of open land on which building is restricted. Data centers, large facilities that house floods of computing systems to enable remote delivery of various IT services, have seen huge demand in recent years amid a global rush to develop powerful new AI systems, such as OpenAI's popular ChatGPT chatbot. At the same time, they have been met with concerns from environmental campaigners and activists due to the vast amounts of power they require to keep them running on an ongoing basis. AI, in particular, has been criticized for consuming massive amounts of energy. Plans to develop the Buckinghamshire facility were twice rejected by the council previously. However, they were again resurrected under the Labour government, which is pushing to make the U.K. a global artificial intelligence hub by ramping up national computing capacity. Buckinghamshire council again rejected the planned data center in June 2024, saying it would be "inappropriate" to develop it on the green belt. Then, last month, British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner granted planning permission for the project, overturning the local authority's decision.

Angela Rayner hit with legal challenge over datacentre on green belt land

Exclusive: Campaigners complain no environmental assessment made for 90MW Buckinghamshire facility The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, has been hit with a legal challenge after she overruled a local council to approve a hyperscale datacentre on green belt land by the M25 in Buckinghamshire. Campaigners bringing the action are complaining that no environmental impact assessment was made for the 90MW datacentre, which was approved as part of the Labour government's push to turn the UK into an AI powerhouse by trebling computing capacity to meet rising demand amid what it terms "a global race" as AI usage takes off. The home counties datacentre is relatively small compared with one planned in north Lincolnshire that will have about 10 times the capacity, and is dwarfed by one planned by Meta's Mark Zuckerberg in Louisiana, which will be more than 50 times larger as he seeks to achieve digital "superintelligence". But Foxglove, the tech equity campaign group bringing the legal challenge alongside the environmental charity Global Action Plan, said the energy demand could push up local electricity prices and said it was "baffling" that the government had not carried out an environmental assessment. Oliver Hayes, the head of campaigns at Global Action Plan, said Rayner's "lack of meaningful scrutiny" was a worrying signal as more datacentres were planned around the UK. "Are the societal benefits of chatbots and deepfakes really worth sacrificing progress towards a safe climate and dependable water supply?" he said. "The government must reconsider its rash decision or risk an embarrassing reality check in court." Last June, Buckinghamshire council refused planning permission for the facility in Iver on what was once a landfill site, saying it "would constitute inappropriate development in the green belt" and would harm the appearance of the area, air quality and habitats of protected species. Local objectors said the two buildings rising to 18 metres would "dwarf the area" and would be an "eyesore" for ramblers, and that there were more appropriate brownfield sites. Other locals complained datacentres were intrusive and noisy and provided few jobs, although the applicant, Greystoke, claims it will create about 230 jobs and support hundreds more in the wider economy. Following an appeal against the refusal, a public inquiry favoured consent, concluding that no environmental impact assessment was needed. In March, the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, attacked the "archaic planning processes" holding up the construction of technology infrastructure and complained that "the datacentres we need to power our digital economy get blocked because they ruin the view from the M25". Rayner granted planning permission last month in what was seen as an example of the government's pro-development "grey belt" strategy to build on green belt land viewed as of lower environmental value. But Rosa Curling, co-executive director of Foxglove, said that thanks to Rayner's decision, "local people and businesses in Buckinghamshire will soon be competing with the power-guzzling behemoth to keep the lights on - which, as we've seen in the [United] States, usually means sky-high prices". The energy industry has estimated the rapid adoption of AI could mean datacentres will account for a 10th of electricity demand in Great Britain by 2050, five to 10 times more than today. And while the Iver datacentre is proposed to be air-cooled, many use vast quantities of water. In March, Thames Water warned that its region was "seriously water-stressed ... and yet there could be as many as 70 new datacentres in our area over the next few years, with each one potentially using upwards of 1,000 litres of water per second, or the equivalent of 24,000 homes' usage". A spokesperson for Greystoke said Rayner had reached the right decision and recognised that the datacentre "meets a vital national need for digital infrastructure, and will bring over £1bn of investment, transforming a former landfill site next to the M25". "Modern datacentres play a key role in advancing scientific research, medical diagnostics and sustainable energy," they said. "The datacentre campus incorporates measures which benefit the environment, including appropriate building standards, solar panels and heat pumps." The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government declined to comment on threats of legal action.

Rayner hit with net zero legal challenge over £1bn data centre

Angela Rayner is facing a legal battle with green activists over plans for a £1bn data centre on the edge of the M25. Campaigners have challenged a decision by the Deputy Prime Minister to wave through a twice-rejected data centre project in Iver, Buckinghamshire, arguing that there had been no proper environmental impact assessment. Activists from the non-profit group Foxglove and environmental group Global Action Plan claimed Ms Rayner's decision would imperil climate goals. They also argued that the process was unlawful and broke planning regulations. "Data centres are extremely resource intensive, requiring a large amount of power and water to operate," they said in a legal letter seen by The Telegraph. "The intensity of the anticipated resource usage is likely to have a significant environmental effect." Oliver Hayes, of Global Action Plan, said AI data centres threatened "precious local resources and the planet". He added: "Are the societal benefits of chatbots and deepfakes really worth sacrificing progress towards a safe climate and dependable water supply?" Ms Rayner approved the 775,000 sq ft Buckinghamshire project in July as part of a drive by Sir Keir Starmer to boost the UK's flagging growth with a data centre building blitz. The project was rejected last year by Buckinghamshire council. An earlier attempt to redevelop the site was blocked in 2023 by Michael Gove, the Conservative former housing minister. However, Matthew Pennycook, the current planning minister, stepped in to overrule the prior decisions and approve the project. Acting on behalf of Ms Rayner, Mr Pennycook said there was no need for an environmental review and warned that "£1bn investment would or could be lost to the UK" if the scheme was rejected. "Given the increasingly sluggish state of the UK economy, an investment in excess of £1bn is of huge importance," the decision said. Ms Rayner has used her powers to wave through multiple data centres since Labour took office, despite the objections of local authorities and warnings that data centres threaten Britain's net zero targets and strain local resources. Rosa Curling, of Foxglove, said: "Local people will soon be competing with a power guzzling-behemoth to keep the lights on." In the Government's decision, it rejected a local planning inspector's assessment that the land at Iver, a disused landfill site overshadowed by the M25, was "tranquil and calm". Greystoke Land, the Iver site's developer, has said the area is "ideally positioned on the UK's long-haul fibre network" and suggested the 90 megawatt (MW) data centre would create 230 jobs. A spokesman for Greystoke said: "Modern data centres play a key role in advancing scientific research, medical diagnostics and sustainable energy. "The data centre campus incorporates measures which benefit the environment, including appropriate building standards, solar panels and heat pumps. The Secretary of State took all relevant matters into account and reached the right decision." A government spokesman declined to comment. Tech giants are spending tens of billions of pounds on new data centre infrastructure and energy projects across the world to power artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Sir Keir has identified AI as a key area of focus for the UK economy, with plans to make the country a hub for processing power through large-scale data centre construction.