Fears 'data centre' near M25 would damage green belt
A council has refused plans for a data centre near the M25 because of concerns it would damage the green belt.
Developers wanted to build a 775,000 sq feet (72,000 sq m) centre on a former landfill site near the village of Iver, in Buckinghamshire.
Buckinghamshire Council planning officers said it would harm the green belt - an area free of development to prevent urban sprawl - in "both spatial and visual terms".
But the applicants said the centre - which would house computer servers - would create jobs and boost biodiversity.
Letters of objection
The plan, on land between a river and the M25, was submitted by Greystoke Land and the UK arm of the construction giant Altrad.
It included offices, back-up generators, fuel storage, cycle and car parking and other infrastructure.
A design statement said it would be "landscape-led" and buildings would have "living green walls".
Plans for a bigger centre on the same site had been turned down in 2023.
Sixty three letters objecting to the latest proposal were sent to to the council.
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