UK Government Delays Decision on Major 147MW Slough Data Center Project
March 18, 2026
The UK government's push to expand national data center capacity has hit another procedural delay, underscoring the complex balancing act between infrastructure development and local planning concerns. A final ruling on a proposed 147-megawatt data center campus in Slough has been postponed by three months, leaving the significant project in limbo.
Developer Tritax Big Box announced that the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government has extended its decision deadline for the planning appeal to on or before June 9. The Ministry was originally scheduled to rule on the fate of the project. No specific reason was provided for this latest delay.
The project's journey through the planning system has been contentious. In early 2025, Manor Farm Propco, an affiliate of Tritax Big Box, applied to build the campus on a 74-acre site it owns at Manor Farm. Despite Slough's status as home to Europe's largest concentration of data centers, the local council recommended rejection. It cited the site's protected 'Green Belt' status, argued that alternative locations in the nearby Slough Trading Estate were available, and noted potential future use of the land by Heathrow Airport for freight operations.
Anticipating a local rejection, Manor Farm Propco appealed to the national Planning Inspectorate in April 2025 before the council could formally decide. The appeal triggered a public inquiry last October. Subsequently, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government, Steve Reed, "called in" the application, reserving the final decision for the central government.
This case sits at the heart of a broader national strategy. The UK government has shown a strong willingness to override local objections to support data center growth, viewing it as critical digital infrastructure. In late 2024 and through 2025, former Secretary Angela Rayner overturned local rejections for several projects, including a 140MW facility in Buckinghamshire. Current Secretary Reed has adopted a similar stance, though his intervention in a separate 4MW project in London's Brick Lane has faced intense local backlash.
However, the government's assertive approach suffered a setback in January when it admitted to a "serious logical error" in approving another Buckinghamshire data center, a mistake likely to force that permission to be quashed. This context makes the impending decision on the 147MW Slough project a closely watched test of the government's current policy resolve and procedural rigor.
The proposed Slough campus represents a substantial addition to the UK's data infrastructure. For Tritax Big Box, a major real estate investment trust, this is a key project alongside its separate proposal for an 88MW campus in Chelmsford, Essex.
Source: datacenterdynamics
