The construction cost for a greenbelt data centre approved by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner yesterday could reach up to £800m.
On Monday (12 May), Rayner approved the scheme sited at Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, after developer Greystoke Land Ltd appealed Three Rivers District Council’s decision to refuse it.
The construction cost figure was included in the report of a planning inspector published alongside Rayner’s decision letter.
It said: “The council has no evidence of its own to dispute the appellant’s evidence that the scheme would have a construction cost in the order of £700m to £800m (at 2024 prices).”
The inspector said that the overall cost of the project would reach above £1bn once the cost of the computing, networking and communications equipment was included.
The appeal against the council’s decision was called in by Rayner within days of the Labour Party’s general election victory last July.
In approving the scheme, Rayner said that although it conflicted with elements of the council’s development plan it aligned with the plan overall.
Significant weight was given to the urgent demand for new data centre capacity, a lack of alternative sites, and the anticipated economic and employment impacts.
The application includes a new country park and biodiversity net gain, both of which were given weight in the decision.
Harm to the setting of designated heritage assets, including a Grade II-listed tithe barn and farmhouse, was judged to be “less than substantial” and outweighed by public benefits.
The development was not deemed inappropriate for the greenbelt, meaning harm to openness did not attract substantial weight under national policy.