Meeting of the Parliament 24 June 2026 [Draft]
It is essential that proper consultation is undertaken with residents, regardless of the development.
There has been a lot of speculation on data centres, particularly since the UK Government announced Scotland’s AI growth zone in Lanarkshire. Indeed, there are similar pressures in the north of England, where conditions have been made favourable for investment. We need to be alive to the need to site the data centres in the right place and with the explicit consent of nearby communities.
As I have said, there are a lot of opportunities for data centres to be sited in places where other developments can make use of the excess heat. I would like planning officers to take that into account.
As I have said to many members before, we are looking at environmental impact assessments to see whether they are fit for purpose for our data centres. However, regardless of the development, there must be public consultation.