sdecoret - stock.adobe.comNewsDC01UKs plan to build Europes biggest AI datacentre wins local council approvalPlans to build a hyperscale datacentre to host artificial intelligence and cloud workloads on green belt land in Hertfordshire have been waved through by local planning officialsByCaroline Donnelly,Senior Editor, UKPublished: 24 Jan 2025 17:02 A plan to build a 3.75bn hyperscale datacentre on a plot of green belt land neighbouring the South Mimms Service Station in Hertfordshire has secured local authority approval, despite more than 900 objections to the build being filed.The project is being overseen by a development company known as DC01UK, which applied to Hertsmere Borough Council in September 2024 for outline planning permission.The council has now rubber-stamped DC01UKs application for outline planning permission, which means it considers the companys plans for the site to be an acceptable use of the land in principle.As detailed on the councils planning portal, 929 objections were raised about the project, while a further 503 were submitted in support of DC01UKs plans.We want to thank Hertsmere Borough Council for their open and pragmatic approach to DC01UKs plans. They understand our ambition for both the project and the borough. It will bring huge benefits for local people through a stronger local economy, more skilled jobs and better opportunities, said a DC01UK spokesperson.Our plan will put Hertfordshire at the epicentre of the new datacentre revolution, as well as creating 3.75bn for the economy during construction and almost 14,000 indirect jobs once operational.As detailed in the planning documents, DC01UK is not an operator of datacentres, but looks set to market the site as having potential to develop it into a datacentre now that outline planning permission has been secured.As previously reported by Computer Weekly, it was confirmed in September 2024 that several parties have already been in discussions with DC01UK about the possibility of taking over the site to build a hyperscale datacentre on it tailored to their specific needs.Even so, DC01UK has previously claimed the site will be home to Europes largest cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) datacentre once it is completed.The news also comes hot on the heels of the government publishing its 50-point AI opportunities action plan policy paper, which outlines how it plans to ensure the use of AI technologies becomes more pervasive across the UK.In support of this, the government has committed to taking steps to increase the availability of AI-ready compute capacity across the UK by lowering the planning barriers to new datacentre builds.Minister for telecoms Chris Bryant MP said datacentres are the beating hearts of this modern age and are something society can no longer live without.He added: Datacentres like this will not only play a pivotal role in the AI opportunities action plan, but drive economic growth through the creation of skilled jobs across the south-east.Stephen Beard, head of datacentres at real estate advisory Knight Frank, which consulted with DC01UK on the project, described the build as the first of its kind.[It will be] the largest datacentre development in Europe in the worlds second-largest market, which is perfectly positioned in its ability to service the ever-increasing cloud demand today whilst accommodating the AI needs of tomorrow, he said.A first and great example of the UKs shift towards becoming a dominant superpower in cloud, AI and general digital infrastructure.Read more about UK datacentre developmentsThe UK government has unveiled its 50-point AI action plan, which commits to building sovereign artificial intelligence capabilities and accelerating AI datacentre developments - but questions remain about the viability of the plans.Labour government has wasted no time in lowering planning permissionbarriers to new datacentre builds, with its disclosure that two previously denied projects are being placed under review.In The Current Issue:Can the UK government achieve its ambition to become an AI powerhouse?A guide to DORA complianceDownload Current IssueA Galaxy of AI opportunities Cliff Saran's Enterprise blogQdrant squares up for real-time AI apps with GPU-accelerated vector indexing Open Source InsiderView All Blogs