Data centre decision delayed due to flood concerns

A decision on whether to allow a £250m data centre to be built has been delayed after campaigners raised concerns about flooding.

The application for the building at Ark Data Centres' Spring Park Campus in Corsham was recommended for approval by Wiltshire Council officers.

However, the decision was postponed at a meeting of the council's strategic planning committee on Tuesday after Neston Westwells Action Group (NWAG) raised concerns about flooding in a rebuttal document.

Councillor Ernie Clark, the chairman of the committee, said the delay was "disappointing" but added that failing to consider the points raised by the campaign group could lead to a judicial review.

More than 1,100 objections to the plans were sent to the council, with residents raising concerns about noise from cooling fans and the size of the building - which would be 18.7m tall (61ft) at its highest point and approximately 180m (150ft) long.

At its closest point, the building would be less than 50m (164ft) from the nearest house, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Council officers had recommended the plans for approval, describing the data centre as "a sustainable form of development".

They deemed it "would not result in unacceptable impacts to the amenities of the occupants of the surrounding residential properties".

But NWAG said the planning officers' reasoning was "unsound" and claimed landscape and ecological impacts had been understated while contrary evidence was "often ignored".

The group said evidence of historic and recent flooding had not been assessed.

After councillors delayed the decision, Ark's chief revenue officer Rob Silvester told the committee the postponement was "shocking".

He said he had "never seen anything like this" in his 35 years of working in the development industry.

"After 18 months of thorough interrogation by highly-qualified planning, engineering and technical experts, officers recommended our application was approved," he added.

The firm said the centre would create 87 jobs, with Mr Silvester describing it as a "strategic investment".

"We are trying to continue to invest in Corsham," he added. "We have sites in London, Brussels, Barcelona. We have a decision to make."

Following the postponement, council lawyers said the decision would not be deferred again.

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