Data Centres: Nature Conservation
(asked on 15th July 2026) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of data centres on nearby protected nature sites, including the proposed Norwich Apex Data Centre in the River Yare valley in Norfolk.
Answered by
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Due to the quasi-judicial role of Ministers in the planning system, I am unable to comment on specific planning cases. By law planning applications are determined in accordance with the local development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that plans should identify, map and safeguard the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity. Furthermore, it sets out that planning policies and decisions should protect sites of biodiversity value in a manner commensurate with their statutory status or identified quality in the development plan.
Between 16 December 2025 and 10 March 2026, we consulted on changes to the NPPF. That consultation, which can be found on gov.uk here (and attached), included proposals relating to protected sites. We are currently analysing the feedback received and will publish our response in due course.