: Secretary of state dismisses data center plan in Buckinghamshire

Michael Gove, the UK Secretary of State, has dismissed a planning appeal by Greystoke Land to construct a data center campus in Iver, Buckinghamshire. Greystoke planned to develop up to 163,000 square meters of data center floor space across three 243,600 sq ft buildings. Once completed, this facility could potentially offer 150MW, including 171 backup diesel generators, each with 2 MW capacity.

Greystoke filed an appeal with Buckinghamshire Council in October last year to redevelop a former landfill site and rezone the land to build this facility—however, the application known as the West London Technology Park was denied in September 2022. The UK Planning Inspectorate recommended the appeal be dismissed. Gove agreed with the recommendation, noting that the development can “significantly harm” the openness of the Green Belt, the ring of designated countryside around London.

The report read, “Overall, he [the Secretary] considers that the other considerations in this case do not clearly outweigh the harm to the Green Belt and to the character and appearance of the area. He therefore considers that very special circumstances do not exist to justify permitting this development in the Green Belt.”