CAMPAIGNERS have hit out at plans for a huge data centre at a site owned by billionaire businessmen James and Sandy Easdale
The proposal was submitted by Slate Island Developments Ltd and would be built in the Spango Valley to the south-west of Greenock – a 28.21-hectare brownfield site once occupied by the IBM computer factory.
The development would form part of a wider project incorporating a separately proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).
The National previously reported that the businessmen – who also own the bus firm McGill’s – had hoped to build up to 450 properties on the site but scrapped the plans earlier this year.
According to planning consultancy Pegasus Group, who are helping Slate Island Developments, there is already “strong interest” from a data centre operator to use the site.
But campaigners have hit out at the planned development, claiming that the application isn’t sufficiently detailed.
“There is so much missing in this proposal, it is just a back of the envelope application from a speculative developer who thinks they can make more money from a data centre than building homes,” Kat Jones, the director of countryside charity Action to Protect Rural Scotland said.
“Inverclyde council must stop the application until they can provide sufficient information about the planned development.”
The plans for the data centre don’t appear to indicate the exact power demand, but does specify that it will be nearly 80,000-square-metre and 18 metres high, which Jones claimed would mean it would likely be in the region of 200 to 300MW.
The application document also says that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) screening was submitted and that Inverclyde Council decided that they didn’t need to do an EIA.
Jones added: “The planning authority must halt the process on this application until there is sufficient information and background work provided, including an EIA screening and a requirement to produce an EIA.”
Data centres have been treated as critical infrastructure since 2024, putting them on equal footing to water, energy and emergency services systems, making gaining planning permission easier.
There are at least 23 other sites across Scotland currently identified for development.
The First Minister John Swinney has so far resisted calls for a pause on new developments, despite a new requirement for environmental impact assessments to be carried out on two proposed new centres.
But campaigners against such sites want there to be an immediate moratorium, ahead of a requirement for environmental impact assessments to be carried out for all planned data centres.
Matt Bernico, a local and volunteer organiser for No AI Data Centres – Inverclyde, said: “We support Action to Protect Rural Scotland in calling for an immediate moratorium on these giant projects until full Environmental Impact Assessments are made legally mandatory. Inverclyde is our community, not a playground for Big Tech and billionaire land developers.”
After announcing the planning proposal, a spokesman for Slate Island Developments said: "Spango Valley has a proud history as a centre for technology and employment in Inverclyde, and these proposals offer an exciting opportunity to open a new chapter for this important site. "There is now strong interest from the data centre sector, providing a real opportunity to bring this long-vacant brownfield site back into productive use.
"Data centres are becoming an increasingly important part of the infrastructure underpinning our economy, supporting everything from everyday digital services to cloud computing and artificial intelligence."
