How to object to a data centre

Petitions show strength of feeling. Formal objections are what planning decisions are legally required to take into account. Here's how to make yours count.

The basics, wherever you live

• Find the reference number. Every application has one. It's on each of our campaign pages, on site notices and on the council's planning website.
• Comment on the planning website, or by email or letter, quoting the reference. Include your name and address: anonymous comments are usually ignored.
• Write in your own words. Near-identical letters may be counted as one. A few honest sentences about how it affects you are better than a page of jargon.
• Stick to planning grounds. These include: Green Belt and countryside, landscape and views, noise (including generators and cooling plant), traffic, air quality, flooding, water supply, wildlife and habitats, heritage, energy use and carbon emissions, and whether the scheme fits the local plan. Things like property values or who the developer is don't count.
• Treat promises with care. Developers often promise jobs, waste heat for local use or clean energy. Ask for any promise to be secured by a planning condition or legal agreement, or say it shouldn't be given weight.
• Deadlines matter, but aren't always final. There's usually a formal comment period. Many councils still read comments sent later, up to the decision, but don't rely on it.
• Tell your councillors. Email your ward councillors and the members of the planning committee. In many councils, a ward councillor can ask for an application to go to committee rather than being decided by officers.
• Speak at committee. Most councils let objectors speak for a few minutes at the planning committee. You usually have to register a few days before.

England

• Most data centres are decided by the district, borough, city or unitary council. Comment through its planning website.
• If the council refuses, the developer can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. You can comment on the appeal: the Inspectorate's website lists open cases. Ministers can take over (recover) some appeals, as happened at Abbots Langley, Slough and Brick Lane.
• Ministers can also move the biggest schemes into the national system for nationally significant projects (a "section 35 direction"), as at Wapseys Wood, Quest Park and Southfleet. Then the developer must consult the public before applying, and once the application is accepted you can register as an interested party with the Planning Inspectorate and take part in the examination.

Scotland

• Applications go to the local council, and you comment through its planning portal. Large ("major") developments must go through public consultation before the application is made.
• Appeals go to the Scottish Government's Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA), and ministers can take decisions themselves, as they did on the South Gyle appeal.
• In August 2026 Scottish Ministers required councils to notify them of data centre applications over 50MW. In September 2026 the Scottish Parliament voted for a pause on decisions about hyperscale data centres until national guidance is in place. That vote is not legally binding on councils, but you can ask your council to respect it.

Wales

• Applications go to the local council. Comment through its planning website.
• Welsh Ministers can "call in" an application to decide it themselves, and can issue a holding direction to stop the council deciding while they consider it, as happened at Cardiff East Park and Ride.
• Appeals go to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW).

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Planning rules change: check the planning authority's own website for the current process and dates.