50MW Data Center Plan on UK Green Belt Sparks Local Fury

A proposal to build a 50MW data center on protected green belt land in Bromley, southeast London, has triggered strong opposition from local residents even before a formal planning application is submitted. The controversy highlights the growing tension between Britain’s surging demand for digital infrastructure and its commitment to preserving rural landscapes.

The two-building campus is planned for a ten-hectare site between Cudham Lane North and Charmwood Lane, currently used as farmland south of the A21 Sevenoaks Road. Data center consultancy Dare DC has submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) screening opinion request to Bromley Council, a precursor to a full planning application. Councilors have already called for a detailed EIA to be completed before any application proceeds.

Although no formal proposal has been lodged, more than 300 comments — the vast majority negative — have been submitted to the council, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. One resident described the project as “a monstrosity” and said the location was “in no way appropriate.”

Dare DC hopes to power the facility through a grid connection that could be secured by 2028. However, that timeline appears optimistic: a report from consultancy Amber Energy last year found that the average wait time for a new data center grid connection in the UK now exceeds eight years, underscoring the infrastructure bottlenecks facing the sector.

The scheme, if approved, would add to a wave of data center projects across the UK, where demand for cloud computing and AI services is accelerating. Yet green belt land — which enjoys strong legal protection against development — presents a particularly high hurdle. Dare DC, which describes itself as a specialist in data center planning, lists only two projects on its website: the Bromley-area scheme and one known as St Cleres DC, with little further public information available about the firm.

The outcome of the Bromley proposal could set a precedent for how local authorities balance digital growth against environmental and community concerns in protected landscapes.