Democratic gains in last week’s US midterms have intensified pressure for tighter controls on new data centres, as community opposition becomes a political force across party lines. Similar pressure is building in the UK, where government backing and billions in investment cannot guarantee public acceptance.
More than 7,000 objections at Larbert near Falkirk . Nearly 3,500 petition signatures against Spodegreen in Cheshire, before a planning application has even been submitted. Behind the promise of the new data centre economy lies a growing planning challenge: securing permission to build it.
Data centre promoters are facing increasingly organised opposition on a scale that dwarfs the opposition we’ve seen against other property portfolios. Local objectors are increasingly connecting with professional campaign expertise, planning and legal support. Significant resources are directed towards limiting data centre expansion here in the UK. This is organised opposition influencing national policy as well as individual applications.
For promoters, this is a business risk that an exhibition and a consultation website cannot resolve.
The scale of ambition is considerable. Savills’ H1 2026 research identified 9,000 MW of UK data centre capacity at an early planning stage and 2,000 MW committed, but just 240 MW was under construction.
Power, finance and construction constraints all affect delivery. Planning adds another hurdle.
Planning constraints
Hoare Lea’s study of 33 controversial or difficult applications found an average time to consent of 490 days. Poor engagement featured in objections to 26 applications; insufficient community benefits in 18. Yet community engagement often follows a familiar script. Announce the scheme. Hold an exhibition. Collect comments. Explain how the impacts will be managed.
This tells promoters what the people who attend think. It tells them much less about everyone else.
The risk is that promoters mistake the most vocal residents for the whole community, leaving concerns poorly understood and potential support unheard. This risks lasting harm to the sector’s reputation and ability to deliver.
The Data Centre Alliance’s work with Kao Data and techUK Data Centres Explained, is a welcome contribution to public understanding of what a data centre does. Promoters can build on this by explaining what their own proposals would mean for the local area.
A community engagement reset
Promoters need to rethink whom they reach, what they ask and how they respond. More communications activity will achieve little if it keeps reaching the same people in the same way.
Research by Amphio suggests public attitudes are considerably more moveable than opposition headlines imply. Its survey of 1,000 adults found roughly a third had no view on a large data centre proposed nearby. Under-45s were net supportive. Ownership made a striking difference with net support reaching plus 35 points for a British-owned project, compared with minus 32 for one owned by an American technology company.
These findings suggest there is an opportunity to engage people whose views are still forming and that ownership and who stands to gain deserve closer attention.
Locally, promoters should incorporate far more representative engagement into their community communications. This can establish the wider balance of opinion, identify concerns that need addressing and reveal what would give residents a reason to support a scheme.
Converting policy support into local approval
The ownership findings also raise a wider question: who benefits? The Government’s new Data Centre Covenant and proposed Local Benefit Plans create an opportunity to answer that question.
A standard package of jobs, skills and community funding, however, cannot be assumed to win people over. Local priorities need testing. Residents should help shape the benefits on offer. Commitments need to be credible, deliverable and clearly explained.
Supportive residents also need opportunities to make their views heard. Otherwise, decision-makers may see the objections without seeing the wider balance of opinion.
Opposition has organised. The industry needs to understand the whole community, act on the evidence and build public support that gives decision-makers the confidence to approve schemes.
Cherry Norton is a founder and Director of Shared Voice. Home – Shared Voice
