The UK's deputy prime minister is set to recall two planning decisions which have held up datacenter investment in the UK.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves noted that the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner had decided to recover two planning appeals already, for datacenters in Buckinghamshire and in Hertfordshire. Under UK planning law, the Secretary of State can decide to make the final decision on a planning appeal, rather than it being made by a planning inspector. This is calledHowever, he added that the UK should not lose sight of its NetZero ambitions and climate goals."We would advise a strategic approach using a spatial strategy to locate datacenters outside the southeast, where the tech giants are based.
In January, a Hertfordshire datacenter was refused planning permission after locals said it would harm the local environment. The site had been set to see a hyperscale datacenter cover 84,000 square meters across two buildings and draw on 96 MW power. The proposals also included the construction of a 300 sqm innovation, education, and training center, which was set to see up to £1 billion in foreign direct investment.