Havering Friends of the Earth

No Data Centre in Green Belt

by Ian Pirie; first published 28-Jun-2024

View north east across the site, from Fen Lane - John Robinson

Green belt land has been in existence since 1947, and perhaps we have forgotten its purpose. It is protected in order to prevent urban sprawl, by keeping land permanently green and above all open.

On the green belt, there is land for forestry, for growing food, and for outdoor leisure. It also serves to 'protect the setting and special character of historic towns' (National Planning Policy Framework 2012). Green belt land stores CO2, provides clean air, and protects biodiversity - yet more reasons to protect it!

However, our green belt is threatened by a proposal for a very large data centre to be built on 470 acres of land in (historic!) North Ockendon.

Moreover, apart from the loss of green belt land, there are other problems.

A data centre stores and transmits 'data' - that is, documents, pictures, and almost everything on computers, in banks and businesses, governments, and on your mobile phone! They are needed by companies like Amazon and Google, and demand will increase with the growth of AI.

Data centres already consume vast quantities of electricity, leading to energy shortages. One centre can use the electricity normally supplied to tens of thousands of houses. In Ireland, 63 data centres use up 18% of the country's electricity. In South Africa, they have contributed to electricity 'blackouts'. They also consume masses of water, and in the US, Spain and Ireland they have contributed to droughts. Globally, they are responsible for around 3% of all greenhouse gas emissions (more than the airline industry).

In operation, they emit a continuous 'hum' that is known to cause mental stress. The centre proposed for North Ockendon will have buildings that are 21 metres high, surrounded by fencing, ruining the view of open fields. Building it will take 10-12 years, so lorries will thunder up and down Fen Lane, damaging the roads and literally shaking the foundations of the houses, which will, of course, lose their value if the proposal goes ahead.

Havering Friends of the Earth are not opposed to technology. But there are no regulations, yet, to control the growth of these data centres. In Ireland, the government has temporarily stopped the building of large data centres. In the EU they are devising new policies and rules to control their growth. In the absence of laws or regulations, it is down to ordinary people to protest.

We must protect our green belt!