nuclear-news

UK Government scraps public consultation on data centres and major infrastructure projects

Scrapping mandatory pre-application consultation requirements for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects will “disenfranchise” locals and “embed resentment”, experts say. Christine Murray reports

Christine Murray, Editor-in-Chief of The Developer and Director of the Festival of Place 03/07/26, https://www.thedeveloper.live/reportage/government-scraps-public-consultation-on-data-centres-and-major-infrastructure-projects

Just days after hundreds of people gathered near Great Torrington to oppose a £13bn data centre and battery energy storage project in the North Devon UNESCdata centre and battery energy storage project in the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere, the government has announced it is scrapping mandatory public consultation for major infrastructure projects including data centres, wind, solar, reservoirs and nuclear plants.

The changes confirmed on Friday will come into effect later this month on 24 July, before the completion of a government inquiry into the sustainability of data centres in the UK.

re-application consultation requirements for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects will be replaced by “earlier technical support and meaningful advice from the Planning Inspectorate before applications are submitted” through a redesigned pre-application service for developers.

The changes are delivered in the Planning and Infrastructure Act which also places limits on legal challenges to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.

The news comes amidst calls for increased scrutiny of AI growth zone plans with concern that developers are misrepresenting their plans and making misleading claims about data centres. The  government has announced five AI growth zones including sites in Lanarkshire and North Tyneside.

Oral evidence presented to the Environmental Audit Committee for the government’s data centre inquiry has already highlighted that local people don’t feel sufficiently heard in the planning process and that claims being made about the job creation may be misleading. 

Presenting evidence on 10 June, Oliver Hayes, Head of Policy at Global Act Plan said: “The jobs benefits really don’t seem to be what the developers are claiming.” 

“The data centre in Blythe, Northumberland… said this would lead to 4,000 jobs and the slightest bit of interrogation drew an admission that this actually would be 100 jobs. This is a £10bn investment in Blythe and that means you’re getting 1 job for every £100m pounds.”

“This change is essential given the need to build our own resilience in places across the country in an increasingly uncertain world”

Just days after hundreds of people gathered near Great Torrington to oppose a £13bn data centre and battery energy storage project in the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere, the government has announced it is scrapping mandatory public consultation for major infrastructure projects including data centres, wind, solar, reservoirs and nuclear plants.

The changes confirmed on Friday will come into effect later this month on 24 July, before the completion of a government inquiry into the sustainability of data centres in the UK. 

Pre-application consultation requirements for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects will be replaced by “earlier technical support and meaningful advice from the Planning Inspectorate before applications are submitted” through a redesigned pre-application service for developers.

The changes are delivered in the Planning and Infrastructure Act which also places limits on legal challenges to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.

The news comes amidst calls for increased scrutiny of AI growth zone plans with concern that developers are misrepresenting their plans and making misleading claims about data centres.

The government has announced five AI growth zones including sites in Lanarkshire and North Tyneside.

Oral evidence presented to the Environmental Audit Committee for the government’s data centre inquiry has already highlighted that local people don’t feel sufficiently heard in the planning process and that claims being made about the job creation may be misleading. 

Presenting evidence on 10 June, Oliver Hayes, Head of Policy at Global Act Plan said: “The jobs benefits really don’t seem to be what the developers are claiming.” 

“The data centre in Blythe, Northumberland… said this would lead to 4,000 jobs and the slightest bit of interrogation drew an admission that this actually would be 100 jobs. This is a £10bn investment in Blythe and that means you’re getting 1 job for every £100m pounds.”

“This change is essential given the need to build our own resilience in places across the country in an increasingly uncertain world” 

Internal correspondence obtained by The Guardian showed the government and developers of the £82bn AI data centre complex in Lanarkshire knew they would not be delivering new on-site renewable energy infrastructure even as they promised it to the public. Instead the data centre will connect to the grid. With an average 8-10 year wait for a grid connection, prioritising data centres could potentially delay electricity for housing developments.

The Scottish government is considering a moratorium on building new data centres, which would affect all data centres that have not yet won planning, as reported by The Guardian. 

Fergus Charlton, planning partner with national law firm Michelmores is concerned about the removal of mandatory public consultation: “Cutting the ability of the public at large and more importantly the local inhabitants – with their special connections to the land and knowledge of their milieu – to inform the design of nationally important infrastructure will further disenfranchise them from the planning process leading to embedded resentment to the system as a whole and the proposed development in particular.

The existing consultation requirements for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects does place a burden on the developer, but it helps strike a fair balance for the local community engaging in an infrastructure planning system that greatly favours the developer,” says Charlton.

“Local residents are getting very concerned and are feeling like they’re not able to participate in that planning process and not able to have their voices heard,” said Hayes. “I think that is a big risk for government.”

“There needs to be real interrogation of what it means to be living in AI growth zones and less of a laissez-faire approach,” Hayes said. 

The government claims cutting consultation will speed up planning applications by as much as 12 months and that infrastructure projects will enter the pipeline at a faster rate. 

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: “Our reforms will get work started quicker on wind farms, solar panels and transport links to connect our communities and grow our economy.” 

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “Britain cannot afford to wait years for the clean energy infrastructure needed to strengthen our energy security and grow the economy.” 

The government says that data centres can opt into the National Significant Infrastructure Projects with three data centre proposals being included: Wapseys Wood in Buckinhamshire, Ampthill Road in Bedford and New Barn Lane in Dartford. 

The government says it will encourage the earlier submission of Local Impact Reports alongside relevant representations.

July 10, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK