Plans for a second data centre in the south east of Northumberland have been submitted to the county council. The outline application would see a vast facility constructed on agricultural land at West Sleekburn, less than two miles from where US giant QTS is constructing a vast data centre campus at Cambois.
Proposed Facility Details
The proposed facility has an estimated cost of £3.84 billion and would comprise 356,000 square metres of internal area. Planning documents from applicant Wansbeck Regeneration Ltd state that the scheme would represent a "significant opportunity" to build within an "AI growth zone."
Planning agents Lichfields stated that the scheme had the potential to provide "substantial inward investment" within Northumberland and could generate a "significant" number of jobs, both directly and indirectly. It is estimated that up to 785 direct full-time jobs and 1,095 indirect roles could be created.
AI Growth Zone
The North East has been designated as an AI growth zone, with the Government and local political leaders hoping to establish the region as one of Europe's largest data centre hubs. The QTS development at Cambois forms a key plank of this strategy.
The application's planning statement points out that data centres "benefit from clustering" and that the site would benefit from its "proximity" to the QTS site. Data centres are often criticised for their huge use of water for cooling, but this site has its own private water supply via a borehole and would therefore, it is claimed, have no impact on the water supply to nearby residents and industrial sites.
Community Engagement
Leaflets about the potential development were distributed to residents earlier this year. Consultation events were also held.
The proposed site lies directly south of the River Wansbeck and north of Brock Lane, with the A189 running to the east. It is currently used for agriculture.
If approved, an outline application would establish the principle of development on the site, but a further, more detailed application would need to be submitted and approved before any construction work could take place.
QTS Project Context
The QTS project will see inward investment of up to £10 billion, with the 10 data centre buildings covering up to 540,000 square metres and providing a vast amount of computing power for new technologies such as AI.
The Government has said data centres are regarded by ministers as being central to UK economic growth and were designated critical national infrastructure (CNI) in September 2024.
