A authorities assessment of an area council’s choice to dam a US-based firm from constructing a hyperscale datacentre in Iver, Buckinghamshire, has concluded the undertaking ought to proceed.
Buckinghamshire Council refused permission in November 2022 for US funding firm Affinius Capital to proceed with its plans to redevelop an industrial property in Courtroom Lane, Iver, Buckinghamshire and construct a 65,000m2 datacentre on the location as an alternative.
The rationale given by the council for the refusal is that the undertaking can be an inappropriate use of Inexperienced Belt Land, that are protected items of land which are meant to forestall the onset of city sprawl.
Shortly after coming to energy in July 2024, the Labour authorities pledged to assessment the council’s choice to dam the undertaking in help of its technique to stimulate the UK’s financial development by accelerating the supply of large-scale infrastructure tasks.
The developer had raised an attraction towards the council’s choice, and a month earlier than the federal government’s intervention a public native inquiry was held over 4 days in June 2024.
Following a assessment of the council’s choice and the native inquiry, the federal government has now granted Affinius Capital permission to proceed with the undertaking, with a letter dated 6 December 2024, outlining the the explanation why.
The letter states that the choice to overturn Buckinghamshire Council’s choice to dam the construct was made by the minister of state for Housing and Planning Matthew Pennycook, on behalf of the secretary of state Angela Rayner.
“Weighing in favour of the proposal are the necessity for brand spanking new datacentres, discount in HGV actions, heritage advantages, reuse of beforehand developed land, and funding and job creation, which every carry important weight,” the letter said.
“Weighing towards the proposal are hurt to Inexperienced Belt, which carries substantial weight; hurt to [a nearby] listed constructing, which carries nice weight; and panorama hurt and visible hurt, which carries reasonable weight.”
The letter additionally goes on to state that, in Rayner’s view, there are “very particular circumstances to justify this improvement within the Inexperienced Belt”, including: “The secretary of state subsequently concludes that the attraction ought to be allowed and planning permission granted.”
The letter additionally states that the secretary of state’s choice on this matter might be challenged within the Excessive Courtroom, supplied an software to take action is obtained inside six weeks from the date of the letter.
Pc Weekly contacted Affinius Capital for touch upon this story, however no response was obtained by the point of publication.
The Affinius Capital undertaking was considered one of two datacentre developments the federal government positioned below assessment in July 2024.
The opposite is being overseen by Oxford-based developer Greystoke Land, after its bid to construct a £1bn datacentre in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, was denied in January 2024. That call is being appealed.
On the time of writing, Pc Weekly understands a call at authorities stage on whether or not that construct will go forward stays pending.
