A SCOTTISH council leader has stepped in to invite campaigners opposed to a £2 billion data centre to meet all elected members – after a private lobbying event was organised for the aristocrat seeking to build it.
Charles Innes-Ker – who as the Duke of Roxburghe is one of Scotland’s wealthiest landowners – is planning the Southside Data Centre project outside Duns, in the Scottish Borders.
The National revealed last month that Scottish Borders Council chief executive David Robertson had invited the Duke to make his case to all of the local authority’s councillors at a private meeting on August 13.
Robertson encouraged every councillor to attend – even decision-makers on the planning committee, after taking legal advice that said they could do so – and moved other meetings to “accommodate” the Duke.
At the time, the Save the Lammermuirs – Stop the Data Centre campaign said that the Duke of Roxburghe should not be allowed to use “his status and connections to lobby the local authority’s decision-makers”.
Now, Scottish Borders Council leader Euan Jardine has invited the campaign group to meet councillors in a lobby meeting of their own.
Whereas Robertson was the impetus behind the Duke’s meeting, a statement from Save the Lammermuirs said: “On August 12, David Robertson, chief executive of Scottish Borders Council sent an email to the Save the Lammermuirs campaign, stating that he had been asked by the leader of SBC, councillor Euan Jardine, to set up a private in-person meeting between the campaign and all political parties.
"He said: ‘This meeting will provide you with the same opportunity to brief elected members as that which has been provided to the developer.’”
It is understood that two options were offered to the campaign group: a meeting on September 3 or on an unspecified date after the formal planning application is submitted. The group intends on taking the second option.
Last week, after the Duke’s lobby meeting with councillors, the slides presented were published on the Southside Data Centre project website.
The briefing argued that the proposed location had the “attributes of a perfect site”, including close links to renewable energy sources, existing transmission grid infrastructure, digital connectivity, a cool climate, and an undulating landscape.
It further said that the data centre would:
- Have 225MW capacity, across three main buildings over eight hectares, with “living” roofs.
- Include 52 hectares “of nature and environmental enhancements integrated from the outset”.
- See between £1.6bn and £2.4bn of private investment.
- Support 1000 jobs during construction and 100 “direct on-site jobs” after completion.
- Provide £25 million a year for Scotland’s economy, including approximately £12m within the Scottish Borders and £776m in projected tax revenues over its first 15 years.
Earlier this week, the Scottish Government said that local authorities would have to inform it of any application for a data centre above 50MW in capacity, meaning the Southside Data Centre is within scope.
“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,” Public Finance Minister Hannah Mary Goodlad said.
