New data centre planned on Bucks green belt
Plans to build another new data centre have been put forward on the edge of Bucks near the M25 and Slough.
The proposed green belt site is a 16.5-hectare former landfill area south of the A4007 Slough Road and west of the River Colne in Iver.
Applicant Sequence (Iver) UK Ltd has asked Buckinghamshire Council for an environmental impact assessment of its plans ahead of a forthcoming outline planning application.
The company was established in Surrey last August as a joint venture between Astra Partners Ltd and Valore Group.
Its team has ‘extensive experience’ in data centres across Europe, according to the plans, including the approved Kildare Innovation Campus on the outskirts Dublin.
Sequence’s proposals for Bucks are the latest in a string of applications to build new data centres in the south of the county and near Slough.
The town and its outskirts are home to ‘Europe’s largest collection of data centres with 34’ with ‘more on the way’, according to the Slough Observer.
To the south of Sequence’s site, another data centre was proposed at the Woodlands Park landfill site but was refused permission last year before going to appeal in December.
South of the Hilton Hotel on Poyle Road, another large data centre was proposed by Manor Farm Propco Ltd earlier this year, while Affinius Capital’s plans for another such site at the Court Lane Industrial Estate in Iver were approved by the government towards the end of last year.
Data centres are large buildings full of computers, which store data and help to power things like artificial intelligence, mobile applications and streaming services.
Sequence says its proposed data centre will be a two-storey building of 229 metres long by 68 metres wide and will be accompanied by a smaller office building.
The proposed structures will only occupy approximately 32 per cent of the site, according to the plans.
One criticism of data centres is the impact of their large buildings on surrounding areas, but Sequence says its site will ‘blend seamlessly into the local landscape’ and ‘mitigate any perceived impact on the openness of the green belt.
A section of its design statement reads: “Upon completion of the site works, the carefully placed landscaped mounds will screen the building from general view; with subtle glimpses only, thereby giving a new sense of invigoration to the site and local context – with high quality environmental design and landscaping all making for an overall enhancement of the site.”
The company says land to the north of the Colne Brook on the site will be opened up for use as a public park and the provision of a looped walking route.
It also claims that construction of the data centre will sustain 190 permanent high-skilled jobs, having a ‘positive impact on the local economy’.