PLANNING authorities will be required to notify Scottish ministers of new data centre applications within seven days of validation, the Scottish Government has announced.
The new direction, issued by public finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad, applies to data centre developments exceeding 50 Megawatts (MW) power capacity. It will support strategic monitoring of the pipeline of such planning applications and of the implications for wider infrastructure.
Ms Goodlad has also recalled a planning appeal for ministerial decision relating to a proposed green data centre in Edinburgh, and has issued directions requiring environmental impact assessments at locations in Fife and Edinburgh.
She said, “Data centres is a rapidly emerging sector, and planning has an important role to play in considering applications, harnessing economic opportunities, and finding solutions which align with our climate goals. We must balance the economic and employment interests in developing data centres with national energy, climate and community wealth building ambitions, which are vital to our future prosperity, as well as the potential impact on local communities.
“It is essential to secure public benefits from this type of development, and I am clear that voices of communities that will be affected will be central to any considerations on data centres.”
