Yesterday the planning committee of Edinburgh City council met to discuss a moratorium on hyperscale AI data centres and the definition of a ‘green data centre’. They voted for Edinburgh council to call on the Scottish Government for a nationwide moratorium until there is a definition of what a ‘green data centre’ is. 18/6/2026
This story was covered in the following papers (among others)
- The Herald Edinburgh Councillors cal for a nationwide data centre moratorium
- The National Edinburgh Council to formally request AI data centre ban
- The Edinburgh News Edinburgh council calls for Scottish Government moratorium on ‘green’ data centres
Sarah Matthews of the Hermiston Campaign, which is fighting proposals for a hyperscale AI data centre on green belt just outside the city, made a representation at the meeting and said:
“When the ordinary person thinks of green they think of recycling, buying locally, cycling to work – they do not think of huge, black, noisy, meaningless boxes the size of 40 football pitches that distribute fine pollution particulates into the atmosphere.
“The Hermiston site will use 200MW of electricity, equivalent to 40,000 schools; and at worst our site will use enough water to drain the Union Canal every month.”
Sarah likened the “developer gold rush” to fracking in her deputation where the Scottish government put a moratorium through the planning system on fracking applications. And this is exactly what we need now for Scotland in this headlong rush to hyperscale AI data centres
Read Sarah’s full deputation here:
Deputation to Council meeting by Sarah Finlay of the Hermiston hyperscale data centre campaign
The Council are meeting to discuss a report on the possibility of putting in place a moratorium on hyperscale data
Sarah Matthews said, in response to the decision:
“It is clear from discussions at today’s Edinburgh planning committee meeting that the impacts of hyperscale data centres are too important to make rushed and poor decisions. These choices will impact everyone now and in years to come .
“It is a very complex topic which we simply do not know enough about yet and is being moved through planning at pace by developers . Whilst progress is important we must pause and understand what we are dealing with and all future impacts for the people of Scotland .”
Kat Jones of APRS said:
“Local Authority Planners and decision makers have been put in an impossible situation by the Scottish Government. They are being required to advise on, and take extremely difficult and high-stakes decisions, around a completely new ultra energy-intensive and environmentally damaging class of development. And to do this with no guidance or even a definition of the term ‘green data centre’.
“Edinburgh City Councillors should expect and demand that the Scottish Government respect any moratorium put in place at the local level. Not least, because this moratorium is only necessary because of the completely inadequate guidance provided by the government around hyperscale AI data centres. This inexplicable and continuing lack of a proper definition of ‘green data centre’ is creating huge uncertainty for communities and for developers.
“Surely Scottish Ministers and the Chief Planner can see that providing a sentence in an answer to a Parliamentary Question by way of explanation for the term, ‘green data centre’ is completely inadequate, and not how planning guidance is usually provided. It is especially challenging for local planners and planning committees because the term ‘green data centre’ seems to have been invented especially for NPF4 and also seems to be a complete oxymoron when applied to hyperscale AI data centres with the energy demand of whole cities and backup diesel generators with the potential for a horrifying amount of air pollution.
“The Scottish Government must immediately put in place their own moratorium on planning decisions so that a definition can be produced and the due diligence done on the impact of hyperscale AI data centres on communities, our electricity grid and prices, and Scotland’s climate targets.”
Some background reading…
and also there is some stuff about the discussions on making the moratorium in the first place here:
Also the second half of this on the Edinburgh data centre appeal and the information they are relying on to show that the data centre would have negligible carbon impact.
Also background is that this letter sent from the chief planner to the head of planning at Edinburgh city council on 13 May related to this proposed moratorium just reiterates the content of one sentence in a parliamentary question S6W-41362 (see wording below) which is all the info that they have been given
Question S6W-41362
- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
- Date lodged: 15 October 2025
- Current status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 28 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what criteria are used to determine whether a data centre qualifies as a “green data centre” under the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4), and whether AI-focused data centres are included in the scope of national developments under NPF4
Answer
National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) designates all green data centres of a major scale as part of National Development 12: Digital Fibre Network. This includes AI-focused green data centres meeting the major development criteria.
It will be for the planning authority to interpret and apply NPF4 according to the circumstances of each individual case. To be considered a green data centre, planning authorities may wish to consider criteria such as the extent to which the data centre is powered from renewable energy sources; makes use of energy efficient technologies; seeks to minimise water consumption; and supports the re-use of excess heat.