Major data centre gets government go-ahead

A data centre, that its developers said will be nationally significant, has been approved by the government.

Developer Manor Farm Propco Limited will be able to use the 20.2-acre (8.2 hectare) green-belt site in Slough for the data centre, a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), generators and other infrastructure.

The company appealed to the Planning Inspectorate after Slough Borough Council did not make a decision on the project and an eight-day inquiry was held in October.

Planning minister Matthew Pennycook, who made the decision on behalf of planning secretary Steve Reed, said he agreed "significant weight" had to be given to "the need to support economic growth and productivity".

Slough Borough Council said the site sits in a designated strategic gap between Slough and Greater London.

About 65 staff will be employed once the centre is fully operational.

Wraysbury Reservoir sits to the site's south and open land is to its west. The Poyle Industrial Estate is located to its east.

Pennycook said a clear need for the development, a lack of suitable alternative sites and that a "reasonable anticipation of early delivery to meet the needs of the market" were significant in giving it the go-ahead.

Any impact on the landscape and the way it looks will be "minor" and "localised", he added.