Data Centre Decision Taken Off Cardiff Council After Local Backlash

The planning decision on a data centre in Cardiff has been taken away from the city council and will now be decided by the Welsh government, in what local anti-data centre campaigners are hailing as a “massive victory”. 

Welsh planning minister Sian Gwenllian decided the issue was too important to be left to an individual council due to “potential conflict with national policy on transport, energy and flood risk”. 

Developer Curtis Hall is applying to build a 30,000 sqm facility on the site of the Cardiff East Park and Ride, and is seeking permission for gas turbines to temporarily power the site. 

The plans sparked concern over the potential climate and environmental impact  – including air quality, noise, flood risk and water usage – and the loss of the local park and ride service, attracting approximately 3k objections. 

The application has been opposed by all six of the constituency’s Plaid Cymru, Labour, Green and Reform members of the Senedd – including cabinet minister Dafydd Trystan Davies – BBC News reported. 

Local campaigners say the community has “made its position overwhelmingly clear: we do not want a huge gas-fired power station and associated data centre on our doorstep”.

A spokesperson from campaign group Save Cardiff East told Novara Media: “We believe this could be the most objected-to planning application in Welsh history. Thousands of people have taken the time to make their voices heard. That should count for something.”

The night before Cardiff council was due to discuss the application, Gwenllian sent a letter to the council stating: “Wide interest in the environmental impact and the policy in relation to data centres means the case has generated substantial controversy beyond the immediate locality. 

“All these matters lead the cabinet minister to conclude the development is of more than local importance and the applications should be determined by the Welsh ministers.”

While the data centre plans aren’t guaranteed to be scrapped, campaigners are calling it a win as the Welsh government stepping in was one of the “key goals” they had worked towards. 

Kirsty Hopkins, communications officer for ACORN Cardiff, said: “This is a massive victory for our ‘Ditch the Data Centre’ campaign. Now it’s up to ACORN Cardiff and our community as a whole to keep pushing forward with the Welsh government to get the plans cancelled altogether for the betterment of the city. 

“We will do whatever it takes going forward to have the plans ditched outright.”