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 in Buckinghamshire. The campaign group Foxglove and environmental charity Global Action Plan are bringing the action, arguing that no environmental impact assessment was carried out for the 90MW facility.
The datacentre, located in Iver near the M25, was refused planning permission by Buckinghamshire Council last June on green belt grounds. However, Rayner granted consent last month as part of the government's pro-development 'grey belt' strategy, which allows building on lower-value green belt land. The decision is seen as a test case for Labour's push to treble computing capacity to boost AI development.
Campaigners have expressed concerns about the environmental and local impacts. Oliver Hayes of Global Action Plan said Rayner's 'lack of meaningful scrutiny' was worrying, adding: 'Are the societal benefits of chatbots and deepfakes really worth sacrificing progress towards a safe climate and dependable water supply?' Local objectors said the 18-metre buildings would 'dwarf the area' and be an 'eyesore', while others noted datacentres are intrusive and provide few jobs.
Foxglove co-executive director Rosa Curling warned that local people and businesses would face higher electricity prices due to the energy demands of the datacentre. The energy industry estimates that by 2050, datacentres could account for a tenth of Great Britain’s electricity demand. Additionally, Thames Water has highlighted that the region is 'seriously water-stressed', with potential for 70 new datacentres each using up to 1,000 litres of water per second.
In response, a spokesperson for the applicant Greystoke said Rayner had reached the right decision, recognising the datacentre 'meets a vital national need for digital infrastructure, and will bring over £1bn of investment, transforming a former landfill site'. They claimed the campus would incorporate environmental measures such as solar panels and heat pumps. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government declined to comment on the threat of legal action.
