‘Never seen this level of objection’: Scotland pushes back against datacentre boom
Holyrood ‘inching towards moratorium’ amid concerns over massive proposed developments in Auchtertool and beyond In a village 21 miles north of Edinburgh, a real estate consultancy plans to build a datacentre larger than the village itself – 35 metres high, with an area larger than 100 football pitches. Billed as the second-biggest datacentre in the world, the development in Auchertool, Fife, has…
The Scottish parliament is considering the possibility of imposing a moratorium on the construction of massive datacentres following growing public objections. In Auchtertool, a village north of Edinburgh, a real estate consultancy plans to build a datacentre over 35 meters high, larger than the village itself and with an area exceeding 100 football pitches.
This development, billed as the second-largest in the world, has garnered 1,600 objections. David Torrance, a Scottish parliament member representing the village, stated that he has never witnessed such widespread objection to a local plan. Similar concerns are being voiced across other Scottish towns, such as Airdrie and Larbert, as the Scottish parliament prepares to reconvene.
This opposition could potentially impact Britain's AI strategy as UK officials have been encouraging datacentre developers to consider Scotland due to its energy and water resources. However, Scotland is now implementing measures to regulate datacentre development, requiring larger projects to submit environmental impact assessments and notify the government upon application.
These measures come as campaigners call for a complete moratorium on new datacentre projects in Scotland, with the Scottish National party already passing a motion to freeze any development not already approved.
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