Bromley residents oppose plans for AI data centre on green belt

Plans to build a data centre on green belt land near Orpington have been slammed by Bromley residents who labelled the proposal “a monstrosity”.

Over 300 objections have been raised against the scheme on Bromley Council’s planning portal, even though a full planning application has not yet been submitted.

Consultancy DARE DC, which specialises in the planning and development of data centres, has presented an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) screening opinion request to the council.

This request is a formal pre-application submission by developers asking planning authorities whether their development requires a full EIA, a document which will evaluate its potential environmental, social, and economic effects.

The request outlines the details of the proposed two-storey 15,000 m² data centre.

The large-scale 50 MW (Megawatt) facility would be built on 10 hectares of green belt land south of the A21 Sevenoaks Road near Orpington and Biggin Hill, between Cudham Lane North and Charmwood Lane.

Claim that need will "accelerate exponentially" due to AI

DARE DC said the data centre would “store, process and run large amounts of data and software to facilitate the rapid growth of data usage in almost every aspect of human activity” and the growing need for data storage was set to “accelerate exponentially” due to the rise in use of AI.

The applicant has acknowledged that the closest residential property is located 100m from the proposed site boundary but said impact from noise of the centre “would not be so significant”.

DARE DC also said the data centre would require “limited use of natural resources”, though data centres have very high energy and water demands.

Bromley Council’s planning department has responded to the EIA screening opinion request saying a full EIA is required.

Planners said the data centre would require “substantial electricity supplies” to support its operation, as well as water for cooling and maintenance purposes, although the extent of water demand was not yet clear.

They also said the data centre represented “a significant urbanising influence into the countryside” but felt potential noise nuisance could be mitigated through measures such as acoustic screening or plant enclosures.

Bromley planners said the green belt development would result in the loss of around 5 hectares of “the best and most versatile agricultural land”.

The data centre plans have not been received well by Bromley residents, hundreds of whom have lodged objections on various grounds.

One objector wrote: “The location is in no way appropriate for such a monstrosity. To even consider such would be an absolute failure to our beautiful green belt land and surrounding area.”

Others raised concerns about the data centre's demand for power and water. One said that apart from concerns about the green belt "I would like to add two further environmental concerns .. the immense use of electricity and water these centres require for their operation.

"How will this be met, and what would be the implication of this for already stretched services?"

Others objected that that noise from the data centre could disturb nearby residents, local wildlife would be displaced, and that the development would bring no direct benefits to the local area.

Bromley Council issued its EIA decision to DARE DC on July 21. The data centre consultancy is expected to submit a full planning application in the coming months with its targeted grid connection date scheduled for 2028.

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