National demand for data centres is real. This page tests whether this site, at this scale, is the right answer.
Every benefit is a claim for now. Ask which would be written into legally binding commitments.
SDC’s forecast of around 400 operational jobs, set against the campus’s size and power.
SDC also forecasts £198m regional and £3.8m local construction spending: separate measures, not to be added together.
SDC expects employment and training opportunities, with potential partnerships, apprenticeships and careers programmes.
How many roles are new and filled locally? What binds SDC to those numbers?
SDC presents the campus as UK digital capacity, close to London’s fibre routes, customers and contractors.
Which tenant, workload or latency need requires this exact site, and what alternative sites were compared and ruled out?
The site includes landfill and former mineral extraction land, which SDC cites in support of redevelopment.
Why compare the campus with a landfill, rather than with the fields and woodland the site was required to become?
The record: the land has always been Metropolitan Green Belt. Planning permissions required it to be restored, and parts are already back to farmland or woodland. In 2017 the council refused a permanent waste plant here, citing harm to the Green Belt and to the site’s restoration. A planning inspector dismissed the appeal in 2019. That doesn’t decide this case, as the rules are different, but it has been tested.
SDC proposes lower building platforms, planted embankments and retained vegetation to reduce visibility.
What stays visible above the planting in winter, and what secures replacement planting while it establishes?
SDC reports general air-quality compliance, bar possible small exceedances in a 72-hour generator emergency it calls unlikely and acceptable; noise modelling is still in development.
What do the results show at nearby homes, including the character of noise at night?
Strategic importance doesn’t remove local effects. The consultation is where these questions get answered.
Ask these questionsWhat’s evidenced, and what’s still to be tested.
| Benefit | Developer claim / evidence | Status | What is still to be tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs | Approximately 400 operational roles; developer forecast. | Forecast | Direct FTEs, new roles, local recruitment and duration. |
| Investment | £198m regional construction contribution forecast. | Forecast | Calculation, additionality and geographic boundaries. |
| Digital infrastructure | Additional secure data-centre capacity. | Proposed | Tenants, workloads, need and alternative sites. |
| Training | Potential skills partnerships and programmes. | Not yet committed | Funded places, delivery partners and binding commitments. |
| Local spending | £3.8m forecast over construction. | Forecast | What counts as local, procurement and enforceability. |
| Land remediation | Ground investigation and remediation strategy proposed. | Proposed | Extent of contamination, excavation controls and monitoring. |
| National infrastructure | Project is pursuing the DCO route. | Proposed | Site-specific balance of benefits and residual effects. |
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