Planning applications for data centres exceeding 50MW power capacity tightened up by Scottish government – but how effective will they be?
The Scottish government has introduced new rules for the development of data centres in Scotland. Effective immediately, planning authorities must notify ministers of an application for a new data centre within seven days of validation.
Proponents of data centres say they are vital if Scotland – and the UK more generally – is to reap the economic benefits of AI. Earlier this year, the UK government said plans to build data centres in North Lanarkshire and create an AI ‘growth zone’ could bring more than £8bn in private investment to the region, with a new community fund worth £543m ensuring local people share in the success.
However, others point to the sizeable demands of data centres in terms of energy and water, and their negative impacts on the environment – when we’re already facing heatwaves and water shortages.
While the new rules aim to balance these competing interests, there is some concern about how effective they will be as they only cover large-scale developments. For example, tech company DataVita has announced a £300m plan to build a second data centre in Lanarkshire AI Innovation Park in Airdrie. It will have a capacity of 12MW, so is not affected by the new rules. Indeed, no data centre currently running in Scotland exceeds 50MW.
In the meantime, applications for smaller-scale data centres remain hotly contested. Hannah Mary Goodlad MSP, Minister for Public Finance, has recalled a planning appeal for ministerial decision relating to a proposed data centre in Edinburgh. She also issued directions requiring environmental impact assessments at locations in Fife and Edinburgh.
The new rules were set out in a letter by Dr Fiona Simpson FRTPI, Chief Planner and Director at the Scottish government’s planning directorate, who says the aim is to, ‘enable strategic oversight and monitoring of the progress of the pipeline of applications within and entering the planning system, and of the overall impacts and implications for wider infrastructure.
The rules apply to any proposed structure, or part of a structure, used to house computing and data-storage resources where the development exceeds 50MW power capacity. The direction is made under the Scottish government’s powers through regulation 31 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013.
Hannah Mary Goodlad MSP, Minister for Public Finance, says: ‘ Data centres [are] a rapidly emerging sector, and planning has an important role to play in considering applications, harnessing economic opportunities, and finding solutions which align with our climate goals.
‘We must balance the economic and employment interests in developing data centres with national energy, climate and community wealth building ambitions, which are vital to our future prosperity, as well as the potential impact on local communities. It is essential to secure public benefits from this type of development, and I am clear that voices of communities that will be affected will be central to any considerations on data centres.’
Photo: İsmail Enes Ayhan / Unsplash
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