Data centre plan should get approval, council planners say

The development of a controversial data centre plan has been given a boost after council planners recommended it should go ahead.

But hurdles remain before developer Curtis Hall can get permission to build it on the site of an existing park and ride off the A48 near Llanrumney in Cardiff.

The plans - which could include a temporary gas power plant - have attracted formal objections from all the area's Members of the Senedd (MSs), and petitions have attracted about 4,000 signatures.

Cardiff Council's planning department argued the plan would help diversify the capital's economy and would provide a new transport link into Llanrumney.

Councillors will meet on Thursday to discuss the plans.

While the committee can discuss it, no formal planning permission can be granted until the Welsh government lifts a holding direction on the application.

That is because ministers are deciding whether to call the application in, meaning they would decide it themselves, following requests from local politicians.

Concerns have ranged from the site's climate change impact to the loss of the park and ride service, air quality, lighting, noise, flood risk and water use.

Cardiff Council has an agreement to sell the site to Curtis Hall, which may power the site with gas until it can get a connection to the national grid.

If built, the site would have up to 30,292 sq m of floor space for the data centre with provision for a 49.9MW temporary energy centre.

A council report said the proposal "would result in some unavoidable adverse effects".

These included the "loss of woodland, trees and habitat" near the River Rhymney, the temporary reliance upon a gas-fired electricity generation before a grid connection could be obtained, and "residual flood effects" in "exceptional blockage and extreme flood scenarios".

But planners said the impacts "can, to a substantial degree, be avoided, mitigated, compensated for or appropriately managed".

The report said "operational noise can be maintained within defined limits" and "air quality effects are not considered significant".

There were concerns about the water use of the site to cool down its equipment. This, the council said, could be managed through a "closed loop system" - meaning water is recycled around a facility.

The council recommended that the planners enter an agreement to ensure an alternative park and ride with no fewer than 225 spaces, with the same number of spaces kept at the facility until the alternative site is completed.

The report said: "The proposal represents substantial private investment in Cardiff and would support construction and permanent employment and growth in the digital economy."

It said the proposal would also deliver a new bridge across the River Rhymney and infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.

Objections were raised by all the MSs who represent the constituency of Caerdydd Fynnon Taf in the Senedd.

They include Plaid Cymru Welsh government minister Dafydd Trystan Davies and his party colleagues Nick Carter and Zaynub Akbar, as well as Reform's Cai Parry-Jones, Labour's Shav Taj and Green Party MS Paul Rock.

Labour MP Alex Barros Curtis, of the neighbouring constituency of Cardiff West, also objected.

Nick Richards, a campaigner opposed to the project, told BBC Wales he had "no idea" how the council could approve the "industrial" gas turbines.

He said he believed it was as close as 150m (164 yards) to a nearby new-build housing estate in Llanrumney.

Independent councillor Keith Jones called on the Welsh government to "stand up for east Cardiff and call this planning application in", and called for Cardiff Council to terminate the contract with Curtis Hall.

Curtis Hall has described the gas power plant as a "worst-case scenario", should it not be able to source an alternative form of power.