A rejected plan to build a data center on green belt land has been approved by the Housing Secretary after an appeal.
Angela Rayner stepped in to advance Affinius Capital’s proposals for a 65,000 sq m (700,000 sq ft) site at Court Lane Industrial Estate in Aver, Buckinghamshire.
The decision of the Deputy Prime Minister was reversed. Buckinghamshire Council’s decision to refuse the plans In October last year.
The site earmarked for the data centre, which is currently mixed industrial use, is 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 Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook on behalf of Rainer. Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The decision, published earlier this month, cited economic reasons, including the creation of 200 construction jobs, with another 90 to run the site once it opens, as justification for the new tech hub.
Data centers are huge warehouses filled with computers, artificial intelligence (AI) and supporting services like streaming.
In September, the new Labor government nominated him as “Critical National Infrastructure”Providing them with importance and security like water, energy and emergency services.
Pennycook acknowledged that the proposed Ivor data center was at odds with Green Belt policy but said factors in favor of the proposal included the need for new data centers, the reuse of already developed land and the investment and job creation.