Scottish ministers tighten planning approval process for large-scale data centres

The Scottish Government has moved to tighten the process for approving new large-scale data centres.

Planning authorities will now be required to notify ministers of applications for new data centres exceeding 50MW power capacity within seven days.

Public finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad said this would ensure support for an emerging sector while also delivering on other ambitions.

But the Scottish Greens, who have previously called for a moratorium on such sites, said the move did not go far enough.

The announcement follows concerns from several communities across Scotland following applications to build data centres nearby.

A proposal to build a 210MW data centre in South Gyle was rejected by Edinburgh City Council earlier this year amid concerns about its environmental impact.

And a 600MW AI data centre proposed in Auchtertool, Fife, is also facing significant local opposition, with concerns about noise and the impact it would have on rural communities.

Goodlad has now intervened in both, recalling a planning appeal for ministerial decision on the Edinburgh proposal and issuing a requirement for an environmental impact assessment for the Fife project. A second Edinburgh proposal in Wester Hermiston will also require an environmental impact assessment.

She said: “Data centres are a rapidly emerging sector, and planning has an important role to play in considering applications, harnessing economic opportunities, and finding solutions which align with our climate goals.

“We must balance the economic and employment interests in developing data centres with national energy, climate and community wealth building ambitions, which are vital to our future prosperity, as well as the potential impact on local communities.

“It is essential to secure public benefits from this type of development, and I am clear that voices of communities that will be affected will be central to any considerations on data centres.”

But the Greens have repeatedly called for a pause on all approvals of large data centres until a national strategy is in place.

The matter was raised on several occasions at First Minister’s Questions before the summer recess, with the party seeking a moratorium and more specific guidance for planning authorities.

At the time, First Minister John Swinney said planning policy already in place enabled decision-makers to “make the determinations that they consider appropriate and necessary”.

However, he did acknowledge the environmental concerns relating to larger centres and argued it was for parliament as a whole to consider whether “more specific, instructive and determinative” was required.

Responding to the changes to the process announced on Monday, Green climate spokesman Mark Ruskell said: “This is an important first step, but it falls far short of the pause Scotland urgently needs… While it is welcome that ministers have finally listened to the Scottish Greens and others, and have recognised the need for greater scrutiny, monitoring the pipeline of applications is not the same as managing it. 

“Until the impact on our energy grid, water supplies, climate targets and communities has been properly assessed and councils have clear guidance, there must be a pause on all applications.”

The move has also been welcomed by campaign group Action for Rural Protection Scotland, which has been working with communities in Fife and Edinburgh to lobby planning authorities to vote against the plans.

Director Kat Jones said: “Common sense has, at last, prevailed. The Scottish Government has realised that the fact that they have no information about hyperscale data centres in the planning pipeline is a serious issue.

“Knowing what is proposed, and where, is critical to start to get a handle of the speculative wave of hyperscale data centre applications, so this the start of the information that the Scottish Government needs to start gathering.”