Chamber of Commerce slams D&G Council’s data centre project decision
Written by author on September 5, 2013
Dumfries & Galloway Chamber of Commerce has expressed surprise and grave concern at the recent decision of the Council Planning Applications Committee not to renew the consent for the Ecclefechan Data Centre.
In a statement issued today, they say, “While the Chamber understands the frustration at the lack of progress on this project we believe that a decision to refuse the application to renew the consent has major implications for this region. As has been well documented, the move to cloud computing is gathering pace and investment in Data Centres is now beginning to take off. Clearly a site with consent close to the trunk fiber optic cables and with ready access to renewable power places this region at the forefront of attracting this inward investment. While some data centres have been described as “lights out” with no employment other than security staff this project has the potential to employ over 200 people included some technically demanding and well-rewarded positions.”
Chamber Chief Executive Gordon Mann said
“We attended a recent summit called by Russell Brown MP where we discussed the economic situation in the region and noted that there are limited signs of any recovery being seen by businesses here. In contrast some regions have seen an increase in private sector jobs replacing those in the public sector that have been lost through the spending reductions. Our unemployment rates for young people are also a matter of concern.
This project could see one of the largest inward investments to our region and has the capacity to add significantly to the region’s GVA. This refusal of consent ensures that this investment will go elsewhere. Given that the previous application was subject to rigorous examination and was deemed to be acceptable in planning and environmental terms it is hard to understand what material changes have taken place to justify such a volte-face by the Council Planning Applications Committee”.
The statement also makes the point that there are wider issues too, in that this decision sends out the wrong signals about inward investment to this region. They point out that many people, including the Chamber, Scottish Enterprise and the Council’s own Economic Regeneration service have been working hard to project the image of Dumfries and Galloway being “open for business’. They believe this decision of the Council will undo much of this work and cast the region in an anti business light.
The Chamber has asked that this matter be reconsidered as a matter of urgency to ensure that the consent is renewed to enable the developer to continue to put together the complex package of funding, operators and potential customers etc.
