Government admits its approval for Buckinghamshire AI datacentre should be quashed | Planning policy

The government has been forced to admit its own planning approval for a major AI data center should be canceled after failing to fully consider the climate impact, in what campaigners described as “an embarrassing descent”.

Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister, had rejected opposition from a local council to allow a large-scale data center to be built on green belt land near the M25 in Buckinghamshire, in line with Labor’s pledge to enable faster private investment in AI. But his successor, Steve Reed, admitted that the reasons for not requiring an environmental impact assessment were “inadequate” and that “the permission should be revoked”.

The government made a “serious logical error,” he admitted during a legal challenge to the approval this week.

The project, also known as West London Technology Park, has been hailed by developers as having the potential to attract £1bn of foreign direct investment. The reversal comes after environmental activists concerned about carbon emissions and water consumption from energy-guzzling data centers claimed the approval was illegal.

They accused the government of being too accepting of the developer’s assurances about environmental impact and of not properly taking into account energy consumption.

The case is a blow to the government’s strategy to accelerate the construction of data centers to attract investment from technology companies. In September 2024, it designated data centers – which train and operate AI systems – as critical national infrastructure, highlighting their importance to the UK economy. Peter Kyle, the former technology secretary, called them “the engines of modern life, they power the digital economy and protect our most personal information”.

The 72,000 square meter (18 acres) data center located on a former landfill in Iver is being developed by Greystoke, which declined to comment.

“We shouldn’t have to take the government to court to admit that its decision to support big tech’s polluting data centers was fundamentally wrong,” said Rosa Curling, co-executive director of tech private equity organization Foxglove.

“For too long, ministers have put the profits of Trump-supporting tech billionaires ahead of the interests of the British public. Nowhere has this been clearer than their willingness to impose massive data centers against the wishes of the local community, without thinking of the catastrophic damage they will cause to our environment.”

Sonja Graham, chief executive of Global Action Plan, an environmental charity which was part of the legal challenge, said: “This embarrassing fall could have been avoided if the government had done its job and looked at big tech’s fragile carbon commitments first. »

She added: “People across the UK are increasingly concerned about the proliferation of data centers and what this means for access to water and electricity. The Government’s sleeping at the wheel will do nothing to reassure them.”

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the government confirmed to the court on Monday that the secretary of state wanted to recognize the challenge and agreed that the authorization should be revoked.

The UK had around 1.6 gigawatts of data center capacity in 2024, and is expected to increase fourfold by 2030. However, this may still not be enough to meet demand, according to government analysis.

Last year, Kyle attacked “archaic planning processes” which are delaying the construction of technology infrastructure and said: “The data centers we need to power our digital economy are being blocked because they spoil the view from the M25. »