Rayner gives go-ahead to ‘monstrous' green belt tech blitz
Angela Rayner has overruled local officials to approve a 'monstrous' £1bn data centre on the home counties green belt.
The Housing Secretary has backed plans for a sprawling 84,000 sq metre development in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, arguing there was a 'clear and pressing need' for data centres, which the Government in September last year designated as critical national infrastructure.
Scores of residents had fiercely opposed the plans, with one blasting the project as a 'monstrous development' that 'would constitute an environmental and social crime', citing 'gross misuse' of prime green belt land.
Concerns were also raised that the centre would produce a 'monotonous hum' heard 24 hours a day, pose a risk to water and energy supply, and have negative impacts on wildlife and property values.
Officials in Ms Rayner's department admitted that the project would harm views from heritage thatched cottages at the historic Ovaltine dairy farm nearby but justified this by saying the properties were not listed.
A listed 15th century tithe barn and 17th century farmhouse nearby will also be affected, although civil servants deemed the damage 'less than substantial'.
It is the second major data centre on Hertfordshire's green belt to gain approval in recent months. Developers gained consent to build Europe's biggest data centre on nearby Potter's Bar in January.
Chris Berry, of CPRE Hertfordshire, the countryside charity, said the Abbots Langley data centre was 'part of the onslaught on the countryside at the moment'.
Mr Berry said: 'It's unrelenting. The green belt in south Hertfordshire is really in trouble. We support the right development in the right place, but there is a balance issue here. Every planning application we've received since Christmas refers to sites as 'grey belt' and that's just nuts.
'No green belt is safe any more. The pendulum has swung too far the other way, it has completely swung … from any sort of reasonable consideration of quality of landscape and countryside.'
Three Rivers district council had unanimously voted to refuse consent for the Abbots Langley last year, but the Housing Secretary overturned that decision on Monday after its developers lodged an appeal.
Stephen Giles-Medhurst, the Lib Dem county councillor for Abbots Langley, said he was 'extremely disappointed' by the decision, which he called 'upsetting'.
As part of its proposals, the developer has promised to create a landscaped country park. However, Mr Giles-Medhurst said: 'There is little gain for the village apart from an extra country park and some low-level employment, but it means putting up with mega warehouse-type buildings across our countryside green belt.
'[The] concern is whether this development will be used as a precedent for other developments to come forward and effectively merge the village [with neighbouring villages]. That fundamentally undermines the purpose of the green belt. We will resist any such further development.'
Ian Campbell, Conservative district councillor for Abbots Langley & Bedmond, said: 'This is disastrous news for the whole green belt, and no village is safe.'
Oliver Cooper, leader of Three Rivers district council Conservatives, said: 'To explicitly say that villages don't get green belt protections – and that motorways offer the same breathing space between communities that fields do – makes no sense. Parliament must urgently debate and reverse this madcap rule.'
A spokesman for Greystoke Land, the site's developer, said: 'Abbots Langley Data Centre will attract more than £1bn of investment and help to secure thousands of digital jobs across the country.
'The Government's positive approach to building data centres is a significant step forward for the UK's economic growth and digital leadership.'
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