UK Government Approves 147MW Data Center Campus in Slough, Bypassing Local Council Opposition
June 12, 2026
UK Government Approves 147MW Data Center Campus in Slough, Bypassing Local Council Opposition
The UK government has approved the construction of a 147MW data center campus in Slough, London, marking the latest in a series of interventions by national authorities to override local opposition in favor of digital infrastructure development. The decision, made by Secretary of State Steve Reed on June 10, 2026, concluded that “the benefits of the appeal scheme are collectively sufficient” to outweigh the project’s potential harms, including its location on land designated as part of the Green Belt.
The project was proposed by developer Manor Farm Propco, a company set up by real estate investment trust Tritax Big Box, which applied for planning permission in early 2025 to build the campus on a 74-acre site at Manor Farm on Poyle Road. The site, which is part-greenfield and part-brownfield, sits within an area that Slough Borough Council argued should be protected under Green Belt regulations to prevent urban sprawl. The council also contended that suitable alternative sites existed within the Slough Trading Estate, one of Europe’s largest data center hubs, and that the land could be better used as a freight forwarding facility for Heathrow Airport.
Anticipating rejection from the local authority, Manor Farm Propco appealed the case to the UK’s Planning Inspectorate in April 2025, before the council could issue a formal decision. The appeal was subsequently “called in” by Secretary of State Steve Reed, granting him the authority to make the final ruling. The developer argued that the site’s part-brownfield status qualified it as “grey belt,” a new planning designation introduced by the Labour government to facilitate development on protected land. It also highlighted the government’s designation of data centers as critical national infrastructure in September 2024, underscoring their strategic importance to the UK economy.
The approval is part of a broader trend of government intervention in data center planning, as national authorities increasingly prioritize digital infrastructure over local concerns. In December 2024, former Secretary Angela Rayner overturned a local council’s rejection to approve a 140MW development in Buckinghamshire, and followed suit with projects in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, and Buckinghamshire in 2025. Current Secretary Steve Reed has continued this approach, though his decision to call in a smaller 4MW data center proposal on the historic Truman Brewery site in London’s Brick Lane has sparked intense backlash from residents and politicians.
However, the government’s strategy has faced setbacks. In January 2026, it admitted to making a “serious logical error” when granting planning permission for a data center in Buckinghamshire, raising the likelihood that the decision could be overturned. Despite this, the Slough approval signals the government’s continued willingness to support large-scale data center projects. Slough Borough Council has a six-week window to challenge the Secretary of State’s decision, though it remains unclear whether it will pursue legal action. Construction on the 147MW campus is expected to commence within three years.
Source: datacenterdynamics
