May 28, 2025 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji
A local council in Essex, UK, has voiced opposition to a proposed data center campus from Google on a 52-acre site at North Weald Airfield, east of London, from the Epping Forest District Council.
The company aims to develop two data center buildings and separate offices, delivering up to 77,150 sqm (830,530 sq ft) gross external area (GEA) of floorspace and an on-site substation at the site. However, the local North Weald Bassett Parish Council has filed its objection to the development during a meeting last week.
Reasons for objection include noise, potential glare from on-site solar impacting the airfield, and a lack of clarity around local impact during development, including traffic. Impact on the operations of the existing airfield was also cited as a concern.
“At this stage, it is unclear exactly what impact the proposed buildings would have on airfield operations, and it is at best premature (at worst, potentially catastrophic) to agree that a maximum height of 24m is acceptable,” the council said.
“There are no details as to who will actively manage this area, given it is outside the secure perimeter of the proposed data center, nor how safety and security would be addressed (CCTV for example). Given the extremely close proximity of the bund to the airfield, and its secluded nature, it has not been clearly evidenced that the proposals do not present a security/crime risk.”
