East Ayrshire Council calls for Moratorium on data centres

East Ayrshire Council is the second council, following Edinburgh City Council, to call for the Scottish Government to put in place a moratorium until guidance on what constitutes a ‘green’ data centre is produced. The motion also called for legislation preventing large-scale green data centre applications from being submitted as Planning Permission in Principle.

A Motion was passed by East Ayrshire’s full Council meeting on Friday 26th June along with an amendment to call on Scottish Government to put in place a moratorium until there’s a definition of a green data centre. The text is below.

The application for a 540MW data centre in Hurlford is from the same developers as the 600MW Auchtertool data centre which has put in an application for a planning permission in principle (PPP). The section of the motion regarding PPP is likely because councillors have seen how little information has been provided in the case of the Fife application and want to ensure that doesn’t happen in East Ayrshire.

The link to the video and the papers are available here:

The Motion Text from Councillor Graham Barton

“Council recognises that Green Data Centres are supported as National Developments within National Planning Framework 4 (Digital Fibre Network). However, rapid technological advancement since the adoption of NPF4 in February of 2023 has seen “Hyperscale Green AI Data Centres” enter the Scottish planning system. Many of these applications seek planning permission in principle, delaying critical details on size, energy use, and cooling solutions to a later stage.

“That Council writes to the Scottish Government to request:

(i) Clearer guidance and policy direction on what qualifies as a “Green Data Centre” to help local authorities make informed planning decisions;

(ii) Provision of a policy framework specifically relating to data centres; and

(iii) Legislation preventing large-scale Green Data Centre applications from being submitted as planning permission in principle or alternatively, the provision of clear guidance on the minimum information/detail required in order for a planning permission in principle application to be validated.”

The Amendment by Councillor Barry Douglas

Councillor Douglas, a chartered town planner and member of the RTPI, introduced his amendment by saying:

“I found the responses that ministers and even the first minister gave, relative to what constitutes a ‘green’ data centre a bit alarming, It is too woolly. The idea that guidance will come forward really isn’t good enough Putting green ahead of something doesn’t make it such.”

After proposing the motion he said:

“As for the one in Hurlford, I will happily go on the record today to say that, as proposed, I do oppose it. I feel the level of detail to date isn’t good enough. The consultation with the community has been incredibly poor, and to just put forward a couple of pretty pictures and hope that the people of Hurlford and beyond will just go away and not complain or have legitimate concerns is completely wrong.”

The Amendment

“We would ask Scottish Government for a moratorium on applications coming forward for ‘green’ data centres until guidance can be supplied by the Scottish government.”

Lisa Beacham of the Hurlford data centre campaign said:

“East Ayrshire council are calling on Scottish Government to implement a moratorium on hyperscale data centres because our local decision makers simply don’t have the information they need to assess this huge application for a 540MW data centre at Hurlford.

“Scottish Government has been asleep at the wheel while dozens of hyperscale data centres are being planned in Scotland, including the huge one here at Hurlford. The developer, ILI, is also responsible for the 600MW data centre  proposed in Fife which has submitted a Planning in Principle application. We have been extremely alarmed by the lack of information they have provided  about the impacts of that development. This is a huge worry to us as we have already seen how little detail is being provided to residents. We welcome the motion and the amendment and thank Councillors Douglas and Barton for their time and efforts and for listening to the community.”

Kat Jones, Director of APRS said: 

“This is the second council to pass a motion asking that the Scottish government put in place a moratorium until we have guidance supplied as to what a ‘green data centre’ actually is.

“We need a firmer commitment from the Scottish government that this work will be done quickly, robustly and thoroughly, and we need a moratorium to be put in place in the meantime as applications are already coming in thick and fast. Local Council planners and decision makers are being put in an impossible situation as this motion shows, and the Government needs to stop dilly-dallying and act now”

Andrea Cail, Chair of Auchtertool Community Council said:

In relation to this element of the motion which refers to Planning Permission in Principle:

“Legislation preventing large-scale Green Data Centre applications from being submitted as planning permission in principle or alternatively, the provision of clear  guidance  on  the  minimum  information/detail  required  in  order  for  a  planning permission in principle application to be validated”

Andrea Cail- Chair of the community council in Aychtertool, where the same developer, ILI, has applied for Planning Permission in Principle for a 600MW data centre said:

“The section of the motion about preventing hyperscale data centres applying for planning permission in principle is very significant because the same developer proposing the site in East Ayrshire, has applied for a 600 megawatt campus in Auchtertool using Planning Permission in Principle. This application contains scant information about the nature of the development and almost nothing about the environmental impacts of that development. We are horrified that there doesn’t seem to be a requirement for essential details in a Planning Permission in Principle and we are worried that permission will be sneaked through the back door since they have alsonot been required to do an Environmental Impact Assesment.”

“Ensuring all hyperscale data centre developments of this scale and impact have to put in a Full Planning application and submit an Environmental Impact Assessment mean that all the relevant information is available to communities and decision makers.”

Notes

The link to the video and the papers are available here: