UK cities give data centres the green light

Research from data centre specialists Onnec has found that local authorities in the UK’s 20 biggest cities have overwhelmingly greenlit planning permission for data centre projects, with only 3 out of 88 applications being declined. A further 5 were withdrawn, while plans for the East Havering Data Centre Campus are listed as undecided. These findings come from extensive desk research of 44 councils over the course of a month, to find planning applications in the last 5 years that mention ‘data centres’ or ‘data centers’

“While not every project will be at the scale of East Havering, the data shows a willingness from local authorities to invest and support data centres, with many already aligned with the government’s strategy to ride the wave of AI to supercharge economic growth and productivity,” comments Matt Salter, Data Centre Director at Onnec.

The three projects declined were all in Sheffield, with the reasons being that proposals were “poor quality design”, “visually unattractive”, “inappropriate developments which would cause harm to the openness of the Green Belt” and “out of keeping with the character and quality of the wider landscape.”

In September, the UK designated data centres as critical national infrastructure and pledged to review rejected planning decisions for sites in Iver, Buckinghamshire, and Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. These plans are part of the government’s drive for economic growth, with the government announcing £6.3bn of global investment in UK data centres. These sites will provide the computing data and data storage to give the UK the infrastructure required to train and deploy AI technologies.

“Data centres are critical for driving AI growth, and with the race for AI supremacy in full swing, the UK has recognised that to get ahead the right infrastructure must be in place,” continues Salter. “However, the rejections in Sheffield show more thought must be given to design to ensure sites are appropriate, adhere to local requirements, and serve the local community. Data centres can become the new oil for regions and cities, but only if they are planned holistically – this means considering every aspect of the data centre, instead of focusing solely on factors such as power and cooling. For example, thinking about the importance of cabling in providing the bandwidth needed to get the most from data centre hardware.”

“Failing to take a holistic approach will result in sites that aren’t fit for purpose, don’t deliver on the UK’s needs, and degrade over time – poor planning could mean a new data centre can feel five years old after the first year of operation, and in need of an expensive retrofit. The UK risks losing ground in the race for AI supremacy if data centres aren’t built to last,” continues Salter.

Government support is vital, but focus must move beyond London

The UK government has been focused on supporting and protecting a data centre industry that is powering the digital economy, and is crucial to AI development. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has been central to this, explaining via an FOI that:

“Since its formation, the Department has been engaging positively and proactively with the sector and investors, coordinating across the government to ensure a consistent pro-growth approach and that data centre needs are considered in wider governmental policy. DSIT has a dedicated team of officials focusing on the security, resilience, and growth of data infrastructure, including data centres, and has been undertaking internal civil service analysis to investigate the blockers to growth of the sector. Recently, DSIT designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure, recognising their fundamental importance to the UK and the digital economy. This move aims to reassure businesses that the UK is a safe place to invest in data centres.”

“Government support will only drive further investment and support for UK data centres. However, this investment must move beyond London – already the biggest data centre market in Europe – to ensure the whole country benefits, and to help overcome power and sustainability challenges facing the London market. Taking a country-wide focus will help kick start local economies, drive broader digital skills, and give every UK region a chance to compete and be part of the digital infrastructure foundations the UK needs to meet rising AI workloads and deliver economic growth,” concludes Salter.