This development is proposed for the former IBM site at Spango Valley, Inverkip Road. The site has current planning permission for a mixed use development of housing and business, and the plan was to reopen the IBM railway station to help commuters. The 28 hectare site is now subject to an application for a hyperscale data centre with about 80,000 m2 buildings, eighteen metres high. A Planning Permission in Principle (PPP) application was validated on 26 August 2026 and has a deadline for public objections of 16 September. The power demand of the data centre is mentioned in an annex to the pre-application public consultation report as 150MW but is not mentioned anywhere in the application
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Planning permission in Principle Submitted
The application for “Planning Permission in Principle for the Erection of a Data Centre (sui generis use class) with associated road access, car parking, landscaping, drainage and all associated work” was validated and went live on the Inverclyde Planning portal on 26 August 2026. Closing date for comments and objections is 16 September (labelled “Expiry Date” on the Inverclyde planning portal).
Application Reference 26/0136/IC
This site received planning permission for a mixed use development of shops, and 450 homes in 2022 (amended in 2023) with the intention of reopening the train station and bringing hundreds of jobs to the area. However the developer appears to have abandoned this plan for a potentially more lucrative data centre. An article in the National reported “Billionaire brothers scrap 100m plan to build 450 homes in Greenock”.
Key Information on the Application
Very little information is provided
The Planning Statement for the Data Centre Development contains no indication of the MW capacity of the development, a figure which is essential to estimate and assess the environmental impacts, including greenhouse emissions, air pollution which would be related to the generators, noise and many other things. From the scale of the proposed data hall buildings we estimated the capacity could be 200-300MW (the buildings are around 80,000m2 and 18 metres, probably three storeys high). However, we found hidden in an FAQ on the applicant’s consultation website it is stated that the capacity will be a maximum of 150MW.
The development does not have an ‘end user’ and so the applicants are intending to make the Planning Permission in Principle (PPP) as flexible as possible “to build in sufficient flexibility for the final design and layout to meet market requirement.” The applicants propose to establish the following parameters in the PPP:
- Overall floorspace quantum (sqm);
- Maximum height of the development / buildings;
- Key principles for site configuration, development areas, access etc; and
- Any required set backs from BESS / other receptors.
Unfortunately there seems to be vague information in the application even about these four parameters. There are gaps in the information submitted and currently published that mean it is hard to see how an adequately informed planning decision could be made, particularly in the context of NPF4’s requirements around the climate and nature emergencies.
It is contrary to the Local Development Plan
The Local Development Plan (LDP) allocates the land at Spango Valley for mixed use development and the supplementary guidance for Priority Places says:
Supported uses [for Spango Valley] are:
a) Business (Use Class 4), General Industrial (Use Class 5) and Storage or Distribution (Use Class 6);
b) Residential;
c) Residential Institutions (Use Class 8);
d) Non-residential Institutions (Use Class 10);
e) Neighbourhood Retail (Use Class 1) and Food and Drink (Use Class 3)
f) appropriate leisure and recreation;
g) appropriate renewable energy uses.
It seems unlikely that a 28ha hyperscale data centre complies with the Local Development Plan’s requirement for mixed development.
The site has an existing Planning Permission (22/0225/IC) for “mixed-use development comprising residential [450 homes], industrial/business use, retail & leisure use and park & ride with associated roads infrastructure, access, open space, landscaping and drainage”.
Battery Storage
There will also be a co-located battery storage (BESS) but they do not say what the capacity of it will be apart from that it will be more than 50MW as it will be decided by Energy Consents Unit at the Scottish Government. The application says the following about the BESS:
“Whilst the BESS will not directly connect into powering the data centre due to the resilience, redundancy and continuity of supply required by data centre operators, the BESS will support wider grid flexibility and the integration of renewable energy generation.”
An answer to an FAQ on the applicant’s consultation website implies they think putting a data centre next to renewables makes it a green data centre: “we understand this to mean data centres which are sited alongside renewable energy sources / energy efficient technologies (such as battery storage) to minimise their environmental impact and reduce their carbon footprint”.
No application for the proposed BESS was visible on the ECU portal at the end of August 2026.
Environmental Impact Assessment:
There is no EIA screening request or decision on the Inverclyde Planning Portal that we can see. And there are confusing messages in the developer’s communications:
The Planning Statement submitted as part of the Planning Permission in Principle Application says:
“An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Screening Request for the data centre was submitted to the Council on 22 April 2026. The Council subsequently confirmed on 22 May 2026 that no EIA was required for the data centre application.”
However the ‘Site Assessment’ section of the applicant’s “Spango Valley Consultation” website says:
“The previous application for the site included a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), meaning that the Applicant already has a robust understanding of the suitability of the site for development in relation to a wide range of matters including access & transport, landscape & visual impact, noise, air quality, cultural heritage, drainage, flood risk, trees/arboriculture, ecology and ground conditions. Noting the proposed change of land use, and time which has passed since these previous reports for the site were undertaken, updated reports are being prepared, and these will be included in the applications, when submitted.”
However, the need for an EIA should be considered on a case by case basis and the proposed data centre could have significantly different environmental impacts from the previous mixed development proposal. We have written to the local authority asking for the EIA screening from 2026 to be published on the planning portal.
The previous EIA for the mixed development (see Inverclyde Council EIA Scoping Report 2019) was conducted prior to the adoption of NPF4 and the scoping report notes that “climate change and greenhouse gases” were amongst the matters that were “scoped out” and not considered in the EIA report. However, in contrast the recent Screening Direction for the Edinburgh Gyle data centre issued by the DPEA explicitly requires the consideration of effects on climate from energy use (see Screening direction dated 30 July ). Given the unclear status of the proposed BESS alongside the hyperscale data centre there is also a question mark over whether they should be considered together for EIA purposes.
EIA Comparison document and making the case for a re-screening
Kate Wheway has written a full briefing on the EIA decision comparing it with the decision for the 2019/20 plans for the housing.
Backup Generators
The Air Quality Assessment states that there will be no generators (p8), the Noise assessment also says “As the
Spango Valley Data Centre is being developed alongside the neighbouring BESS facility, there is no requirement for emergency generators for backup power. Transformers located externally are still anticipated to be required.”
This seems a surprising statement from what we know about other data centres already operating and those planned elsewhere in Scotland. We would be concerned that there is absolutely no detail at this stage and that these will be added in at the Full Planning stage if Planning Permission in Principle is permitted.
Main Points for Objections
The planning portal is open for objections and comments until 16 September. When submitting objections these need to be ‘material considerations’ which means that they must reference National Planning Framework 4 policies and the Local Development Plan. Below is a starting point for Objections – more information will follow in the coming week as we get our heads around the application.
- The developers have not provided enough information for Inverclyde Council to determine the application. For example there is no measure of the energy and water use, generators required and so many other things. The council needs to pause the application until sufficient information is provided.
2. The EIA screening is not on the planning portal but we believe that the local authority has screened it out of requiring an EIA due to a reference in the application document despite them requiring an EIA for the previous development which was to be less impactful.
3. This proposal goes against the local development plan because this area is planned for mixed use residential, leisure and retail. There is a current planning permission for 450 homes and retail which would be replaced by this data centre, including the opportunity for reopening the train station
4. Employment is overstated for hyperscale data centres – data centres typically employing 20-50 people. This land is partially allocated for employment but a data centre will generate extremely little employment opportunities apart from during construction.
5. Climate impacts – this is a large data centre and will use a huge amount of energy. There is one mention in the FAQ table of the pre-consulattion report, that it will draw 150MW of power. This is large, as much as the power demand of 150,000 homes and would use 5% of Scotland’s total energy use of 2024. It would generate 186,062 tonnes of CO2 a year just from the electricity use not including emissions for the diesel generators (which it would likely have to have, even through they don’t say it in the application) – reference
- Lifecycle Greenhouse emissions
- Air Pollution
- Noise
- Public transport
Kate Wheway has produced a briefing document with much more detail to help people who would like to object.
The Developer, Slate Islands Development, only intends to take this to Planning Permission in Principle and then sell the site off to a developer/end user
Their website states:
“The Applicant intends to seek PPP for the data centre, which, if approved, will establish the acceptability of the principle of development and key development parameters within the application site. This approach is intended to build in sufficient flexibility for the final design and layout to meet market requirements, but a key requirement will be for the PPP to confirm the following parameters:
- Overall floorspace quantum (sqm);
- Maximum height of the development / buildings;
- Key principles for site configuration, development areas, access etc; and
- Any required set backs from BESS / other receptors.
By using this approach, the chosen developer / ‘end user’ can come forward with their own detailed design to reflect the terms of any PPP consent granted.”
Timeline:
They state on their timeline that the PAM – proposal of development – went in 24 February 2026 but we cannot see it on the Inverclyde Planning portal.
According to Companies House, Slate Islands Development was set up in 2020 and states its Nature of Business as “68100 – Buying and selling of own real estate”