Property developer Caineal is looking to develop a data center on a 100-acre plot of land in Wickford, Essex, the UK, reports the Southend Echo.

In advance of planning applications, the developer submitted an environmental screening request on December 13.

The parcel in question covers both sides of Nevendon Road, bordering the A127, and is "green belt" land.

The screening request is to develop a data center on the site, along with "supporting infrastructure including substation, energy center, security gatehouse, access road, car parking, cycle parking, service yard and loading facilities, hard and soft landscaping, internal and external plant, emergency back-up generators, fuel storage, creation of public open space, and associated works."

Wickford town councillor David Harrison has raised concerns about the accessibility of the site: "I think they were looking for an area where the high fiber lines are so that’s why they have picked this area. The access was wrong and the only access they can get to the site is Old Nevendon Road. The residents would be quite affected and it is being put on green belt, I thought they would have more issues with that."

According to Harrison, Caineal told the council it would do a lot of "tree planting" on the site.

The application has yet to be discussed by Basildon Borough Council, though the next scheduled meeting is on January 10, 2024.

In the UK this year, applications for new data center developments have been filed in Slough, Kent, London, Newport in Wales, and Manchester among others.

Two of Caineal LLP's founders (Mathew Bacon and Colin Hyde) are also directors of ARC:MC, an architectural, building information modelling (BIM), structural engineering and interior design firm specializing in data centers. ACR:MC has worked on data centers for Virtus, Mace Technology, and Anova Data Centres, among others.