Rayner waves through 700,000 sq ft data centre

Affinius Capital and Corscale Data Centers have got the go-ahead to develop a 700,000 sq ft data centre in Buckinghamshire after secretary of state Angela Rayner overturned the council’s refusal. The £670m Court Lane scheme, which is held in Patrizia’s Hanover fund, was refused by Buckinghamshire County Council in October last year because it found that it constituted “inappropriate development in the green belt”. The council said the data centre would damage the “landscape character and appearance and visual effects” of the area.  However, the government has now overturned that decision saying that the harm to the green belt is “outweighed by other considerations”. The ruling states that there are “very special circumstances to justify this development in the green belt and that the framework’s green belt test is favourable to this proposal”.Simon West, fund manager for Patrizia Hanover PUT, said: “We welcome the decision by the Secretary of State to approve plans for a high-tech data centre on the Court Lane industrial site. Our asset management strategy for the site has focused on maximising its potential and, after securing an agreement with the National Grid, it is ideally suited for an industry-leading data centre, providing vital infrastructure for the continued growth of the UK economy.” The nod comes as the government outlines its Plan for Change programme in which it promises to unleash the biggest building boom in more than 50 years, pushing through at least 150 major infrastructure projects . Earlier this month, Labour designated data centres as critical national infrastructure, meaning that previously rejected planning proposals are now being revisited.  Photo © yucelyilmaz/iStock