OUTLANDER star Sam Heughan has urged MSPs to back a moratorium on planning applications for new hyperscale data centres in Scotland.
His intervention comes ahead of a Holyrood debate on Wednesday, when the Scottish Greens are set to force a vote amid a growing number of speculative proposals for huge facilities across the country.
The actor and environmental campaigner told The National that politicians should “pause and reflect” on the rapid expansion of the controversial developments before allowing more projects to progress.
“I urge them to listen to what communities and the environmental organisations are saying and put in place a moratorium on hyperscale AI data centres,” Heughan said.
“At least until we know more about the short and long-term effects to all involved.”
The actor, best known for playing Jamie Fraser in the series Outlander, added: “I do not see that building these large industrial sites will benefit anyone other than the land owners and the large corporations involved.”
He then hit out at the Scottish Government’s current position, saying: “I personally think that allowing these projects to go ahead with no strategy and often little consideration of their environmental impact is short-sighted and shows a lack of judgment by the Scottish Government.”
The Scottish Government has introduced new rules requiring ministers to be notified of applications for AI data centres, but critics say the measures do not go far enough.
Campaigners have instead called for a moratorium while the impact of the developments on Scotland's energy system, water supplies and climate targets is assessed.
The SNP's national council has also backed calls for a moratorium, but the Scottish Government has not adopted one as policy.
Heughan said that turning Scottish beauty spots into industrial sites “feels really hard to justify”.
He added: “Especially when we do not fully understand the long-term effects of hyperscale AI data centres.
“Seeing the current impacts of climate change, both globally and here in Scotland, specifically with the wildfires this summer, I can't imagine the benefits outweighing the many costs communities are rightly concerned about.”
Heughan went on: “We all use data centres for our daily lives, but these vast developments to support big tech's large language model AI are on a totally different scale. Not to mention the recent warnings from major AI tech giants flagging that there isn’t enough regulation protecting against AI itself.
“The construction of these sites come at such a high price for our environment and health. Water/noise pollution, energy usage and possible EMF radiation and destruction of local wildlife/environmental impact are but a few of the concerns of local residents.”
Heughan also weighed in on plans for a huge 300MW AI data centre in Larbert (above) – for which over 7000 objections were submitted.
Also on Wednesday, Falkirk Council’s planning committee will hold a pre-determination hearing – which will see the developer and people who submitted representations to address councillors before the application is determined.
“I've seen how the community in Larbert (and others) have pulled together and are opposing the enormous data centre there,” Heughan said.
“I urge the committee to take their concerns extremely seriously. This is an issue that affects not just the communities nearby but the entire country, currently benefiting no-one but the landowners and big tech.”
