Formal plans for what could be Europe’s largest data centre are expected to be submitted in the coming months, new documents show.
Havering Council is set to approve the East Havering Data Centre (EHDC), which will straddle the boundary of Havering and Thurrock, in January.
The centre – designed by developer Digital Reef – would cover 99 acres and the scheme would also include a 279-acre “ecology park”, which the firm said would be publicly accessible.
The council’s corporate plan, published this week, says it will be consulted on “in the autumn” before it goes before the strategic planning committee, made up of elected councillors.
A local development order (LDO) is currently being finalised, which will sidestep the need for traditional planning permission to be granted.
According to the Local Government Association, LDOs give developers the right to build specified buildings on a site. It will give Digital Reef upfront permission in one go.
The association says they incentivise development by “simplifying” the planning process and making investment on a site “more attractive”.
However, the move has attracted heavy criticism from residents.
Ian Pirie, with Havering Friends of the Earth, said people were “angry and frustrated” by the LDO.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he could infer the council was confident it would be passed, which “indicated they do not care about local opinion”.
He added: “The pretty farcical public meetings – two of them, a year ago – should have told them that local people were not happy.”
He continued: “We have been accused of being [anti-technology] Luddites, but we simply think this site is the wrong place for a huge data centre. We do not believe that the local area and residents will benefit in any way.”
A spokesperson for Havering Council said the planning department would “announce the next steps in due course”.
“This will include a public consultation, as part of the transparent and lawful planning process, which we will encourage residents to contribute to,” she added.
Havering Residents Association councillor Ray Morgon, leader of the council, said last August elected officials had to make “tough decisions for the whole borough” but he would not “shy away from supporting a beneficial scheme”.
The eco group previously attacked the plan for its potentially harmful impact on the environment.
Ian said last year that the centre being approved would set a precedent.
“We would then lose more and more of our green belt,” he added, questioning when the “creeping industrialisation” of the countryside would stop.
In response, the town hall said it would be a “catalyst for new hi-tech industries locating in the borough providing further job opportunities, particularly for our young people”.
The project would meet net-zero targets and not produce any emissions, the spokesperson added.
