UK Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has given the green light to a data center development in Buckinghamshire that had previously been blocked.
Rayner has approved the 140MW development at the Court Lane Industrial Estate following a public inquiry that opened in June.
Data center developer Corscale announced plans for a campus, comprising two four-level buildings in 2022.
The Court Lane site is currently a 14-acre industrial estate, comprising a mix of occupiers from vehicle storage, scrap metal recycling, and office uses. The site also includes a Grade II listed building (Iver Court Farmhouse) which is currently used as a multi-tenant office building.
In October 2023, Corscale’s plan was rejected by the council, which said it constituted an “inappropriate development on green belt land.”
However, following the public inquiry, Rayner has reversed the decision. In a letter from housing minister Matthew Pennycook, sent on Rayner’s behalf, it is claimed the proposal “would make a significant contribution” to the need for data centers in the UK.
Rayner “agrees with the inspector that failure to meet this need could have significant negative consequences for the UK digital economy,” said Pennycook in the letter.
The site is currently owned by Hanover Property Trust. It intends to sell it to Affinius Capital so that Corscale, which is based in Texas and has developed a series of data centers in the US, can go ahead with the build-out.
Patrizia, the parent company of the Hanover Property Trust, welcomed the decision. Simon West, fund manager for Patrizia’s Hanover PUT fund, said: “Our asset management strategy for the site has focused on maximizing its potential and, after securing an agreement with the National Grid, it is ideally suited for an industry-leading data center, providing vital infrastructure for the continued growth of the UK economy.”
Rayner and her colleagues in the UK’s Labour government have made data center development a priority as part of planned reforms of UK planning laws.
Though the public inquiry into the Court Lane development pre-dates the government’s arrival in office, it has also instigated the re-opening of another stalled planning application for a data center, a 96MW development in Abbot’s Langley, Hertfordshire, that was rejected in January. A public inquiry into this decision ended last month, with a decision expected shortly.
