Campaigners ‘won’t stop’ until moratorium announced on AI data centresHundreds of people gathered outside the Scottish Parliament on Thursday for a protest against the developments.Hundreds of people from across Scotland joined the protest (Danyel VanReenen)/PA)Danyel Vanreenen5 minutes ago
Campaigners and community members from across Scotland have said they “won’t stop” until the Scottish Government announces a moratorium on the development of AI data centres.
A protest brought hundreds of people from about 15 local campaign groups together in front of the Scottish Parliament on Thursday to oppose AI data centre development in Scotland.
Organisers called on First Minister John Swinney to immediately pause developments until concerns have been fully considered and until a Government strategy is put in place.
Hazel McQueen, one of the organisers from the Say NO To Larbert Data Centre group, told the Press Association: “When you see the amount of people here today, and the fact that Larbert alone had 7,000 objections, [Mr Swinney] needs to listen to the people, he needs to listen to the people of Larbert and the people of Scotland.
“That’s the only thing we’re going to accept. We’re not going to stop, we’ll use anything at our disposal, even if it means going down a legal route.”
There are currently plans for an £8 billion AI investment zone in North Lanarkshire, a £5 billion data centre project near the small village of Auchtertool in Fife, and a £2 billion data centre in the Borders.
Campaigners and community members from across Scotland have said they “won’t stop” until the Scottish Government announces a moratorium on the development of AI data centres (Danyel VanReenen)/PA)
Critics, including local campaign groups, have warned over the centres’ impact on the environment, including extremely high electricity and water usage.
Kat Jones, from Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS), said people across Scotland feel they are not being listened to by the Government.
“We did hear the Scottish Government say on Tuesday in the new Programme for Government that they wanted to see a strategic approach to data centres, but with [development plans] coming in quick and fast through the planning system, what we need more than anything is a pause, and then that strategic work, and studies of what the impacts are, and consultation with communities can be done,” Ms Jones said.
“Our message as APRS today is that the Scottish Government and John Swinney should look at the public sentiment on hyperscale data centres and start to look in detail at what impacts they have and to put a pause on them all until there’s time for them to actually put a strategy in place.”
Melanie Gallacher, 52, from Musselburgh, attended the protest to oppose the development plans for a data centre in the nearby town of Cockenzie.
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“They’re talking about having data centres all across the central belt and it’s just heart-breaking the lack of democracy and the lack of agency that we all have to determine what happens in our towns and cities,” Ms Gallacher said.
“Whether it’s data centres, parking, flood schemes, Scottish towns are ignored.”
She urged Mr Swinney and the Scottish Government to “please do the right thing” and halt developments.
Ms Gallacher said towns and residents should not have to “pay the cost and have to suffer these dreadful buildings and the environment they create”.
Another protester, Jane Wooley, 76, from Edinburgh, said people in local communities are “absolutely appalled by what’s been seemingly forced on them” if the Scottish Government does not listen.
Kim Pratt, a campaigner with Friends of the Earth Scotland, told PA the proposed data centres would have a “huge impact both on people and nature” if they go ahead.
“We know there’s going to be air pollution, noise pollution, and heat pollution,” she said. “There’s going to be destruction of the natural environment and also climate impacts as well.
“We want [the Scottish Government] to take action immediately to create a moratorium on all data centres in Scotland until there are environmental and social safeguards in place.”
In August, the Government announced planning authorities would be required to notify ministers of data centre applications within seven days of validation.
The new direction applies to data centre developments exceeding 50 megawatts (MW) power capacity and will support strategic monitoring of the pipeline of such planning applications and of the implications for wider infrastructure.
Public finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad also recalled a planning appeal for ministerial decision relating to a proposed green data centre in Edinburgh, and issued directions requiring environmental impact assessments at locations in Fife and Edinburgh.
Following the protest on Thursday, Ms Goodlad spoke about striking a balance.
“Data centres represent 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,” she said.
“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.”
The issue was discussed at Holyrood’s Climate Action Committee on Thursday morning.
When asked about data centres in relation to water scarcity concerns, Wendy Kimpton, director of strategy and regulation at Scottish Water, said the corporation is in conversation with “about half” of the 24 companies that have proposals in for data centres. She appealed to the companies to approach Scottish Water as soon as they can.
She said Scottish Water would prefer closed loop systems and for them to be based “in areas where there isn’t water scarcity at the moment”.
While Ms Kimpton said the matter is an issue for local authorities, as a statutory consultee Scottish Water “puts all these views across”.
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