Plans to build a data centre in Buckinghamshire’s green belt have been approved by Angela Rayner after an appeal.
The housing secretary stepped in to push through Affinius Capital’s proposals for the 65,000sqm site at the Court Lane Industrial Estate in Iver.
The deputy prime minister’s decision overturns Buckinghamshire Council’s decision to refuse the plans in October last year.
The site earmarked for the data centre, currently of mixed industrial use, is located to the east of the M25 and is bordered by the Grand Union Canal, as well as sewage and water treatment works.
The decision to approve the site was made by the minister of state for housing and planning, Matthew Pennycook MP, on behalf of the secretary of state.
Published earlier this month, it cites economic reasons, including the creation of 200 construction jobs, with a further 90 to operate the site once open, as among the justifications for the new tech hub.
Data centres, which are essentially huge warehouses full of computers, support services like artificial intelligence (AI) and streaming.
In September, the new Labour government designated them as ‘critical national infrastructure’, giving them the same importance and protections as water, energy and emergency services.
Mr Pennycook acknowledged the proposed Iver data centre conflicted with green belt policy – which the council called ‘inappropriate’ as it rejected the plans.
However, he said the factors in favour of the proposal included the need for new data centres, the re-use of previously developed land and investment and job creation.
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