Northumberland's new data centres must bring 'local benefits'

Government plans to impose "strict tests" on data centres before they can be built have received a cautious welcome in an area which could soon be home to three such facilities.

During Wednesday's Budget speech, Chancellor John Healey said new centres would face requirements to "invest in local communities, create local jobs and protect local water supplies".

The Conservative leader of Northumberland County Council, which gave US firm QTS the go-ahead for a £10bn facility at Cambois and is considering two more applications, said the sector was "absolutely critical" for the economy.

Meanwhile, the local Labour MP welcomed Healey's pledge but warned the "devil is in the detail".

Last month, Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery called on the prime minister to regulate data centre developments like those in his constituency, fearing they would take up "scarce industrial land that could be used for other industries that create far more local jobs".

On Wednesday, the chancellor told the House of Commons: "When the NHS uses AI to treat patients, we want that data here, when our armed forces use AI to keep us safe, we want that data here."

He said if companies invested locally, created jobs and protected resources, they "will get the grid connections they need and, where necessary, be allowed to build onsite generation while they wait".

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service afterwards, Lavery said: "We have to listen to the residents much more than we have been."

He said the chancellor's pledge "broadly speaking does address the issues" being raised, but he was "not sure it could cover the impact of having three or four data centres within two square miles".

Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said of the QTS plans: "If it is done right and carefully then data centre development is absolutely crucial for a new economy and a new generation of people."

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