Councils reveal no correspondence from Scottish Government on data centre pause
The Scottish Greens are urging the Scottish Government to clarify their position after it emerged that local councils have not been issued guidance regarding Holyrood’s vote to pause planning applications for hyperscale data centres.
The Scottish Parliament voted to pause planning applications until guidance was issued by ministers, expected by the end of the yea, on September 16th.
However, the Scottish Greens have confirmed with several local authorities that no guidance has been issued - including several with live planning applications for hyperscale data centres.
Scottish Borders Council confirmed through a Freedom of Information request that they had not received any correspondence from the Scottish Government or officials.
The FOI request asked for: “Any external correspondence with the local authority from or to the Scottish Government following the vote on AI hyperscale data centre applications regarding the plans for a pause and new national planning and spatial guidance.”
The response read: “Scottish Borders Council confirms no internal correspondence is held. As such, we give notice under Regulation 10(4)(a) of the EI(S)R 2004 and declare no information is held.”
Fife Council have also confirmed that they did not receive a notification to pause applications for data centres ahead of guidance being published by the Scottish Government. ILI Group have proposed a 600MW hyperscale data centre in Auchtertool, with decisions expected imminently.
Both hyperscale data centre applications have faced huge opposition from local communities and campaigners nationally.
It comes after the First Minister told Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay at FMQs: “What I and my ministers say in Parliament will be reflected in the communication and the interventions of the Chief Planner, operating within the statutory framework appropriate for such decisions.”
Scottish Greens MSP Patrick Harvie said:
“The First Minister told the Scottish Parliament that what ministers say will be reflected in communications from the Chief Planner - but this is clearly not the case.
“Parliament voted for a pause and local authorities should have had an explanation of what this means in practice or a planning direction issued while the guidance is being drafted. The First Minister must set out clearly what is expected of local authorities and what this pause actually means.
“Communities are worried about this huge boom in hyperscale data centre applications - just last week one was lodged for what could be one of the world’s largest, at Chapelcross in Dumfries and Galloway.
“The Scottish Government must show leadership on this rather than allowing well-funded tech billionaires to foist hyperscale data centres on communities that do not want them.”