Nobody Wants a Data Centre Next Door. So Who Decides Where They Go?

Key points

• Data centres, the large warehouse-like buildings that store and process data for AI services, are expanding rapidly across the UK and other countries.
• Residents near existing and planned sites report noise, visual disruption, and heavy demands on local power supplies.
• Governments in several countries are fast-tracking data centre approvals, limiting the tools local communities have to object.
• Campaigners and local councils have mounted legal and planning challenges, with mixed results.
• The tension sits at the heart of a genuine dilemma: AI requires physical infrastructure, and that infrastructure has to go somewhere.

Every time you ask a voice assistant a question or run a chatbot query, a building somewhere does the heavy lifting. That building is a data centre, a large warehouse packed with thousands of computers storing information and running the software behind modern AI services. It runs around the clock, it's loud, and it consumes enormous amounts of electricity and water to stop its machines from overheating.

People who live near them are increasingly unhappy about it. We've tracked this pattern since our first community-opposition story on 23 July 2026, and the complaints have barely changed: a constant low hum from cooling fans, floodlit sites that never go dark, anxiety about what so much electrical demand means for local grids.

The Guardian's global technology reporter Aisha Down spoke to the outlet's podcast about the backlash spreading across the UK and internationally.

Who gets to say no?

Not many people. Governments in the UK and elsewhere have designated data centres as critical national infrastructure, a legal status placing them in the same category as power stations and hospitals. That classification speeds up planning approvals and makes it much harder for local councils or residents to block a site through normal planning rules.

Campaigners have tried legal challenges. Some have slowed projects. A planned facility in a tiny Fife village drew 1,600 objections and pushed Scotland's parliament toward a possible building freeze, as we reported on 25 August. Few challenges have stopped a project outright.

What does this cost the environment?

The environmental bill is substantial and still growing. A single large facility can draw as much electricity as a small town. Water use is also significant: many sites pump millions of litres through cooling systems each year.

Planning documents for a proposed AI facility on London's green belt show annual emissions topping one million tonnes of CO2, equivalent to more than 27,000 transatlantic flights, a figure we reported on 21 August. Proponents argue newer facilities are far more efficient and that many operators buy renewable energy. Critics say the scale of expansion cancels out those gains.

What happens next?

Demand from AI companies isn't slowing, and the pipeline of planned sites is long. The tools millions of people use every day can't run without this infrastructure. Who bears the local cost of a global technology is still being fought in planning offices and courtrooms.

For anyone living near a proposed site, engaging early matters. Local councillors and formal objection windows are the most direct tools available, and they're far more useful before approvals are granted than after.

Common questions

Can a community actually stop a data centre being built nearby?

It's difficult but not impossible. Legal and planning challenges have delayed projects in several cases, but the critical national infrastructure classification gives developers significant advantages in the UK approval process.

Why do data centres use so much water?

The computers inside generate enormous heat when running continuously. Many facilities pump water through cooling systems to keep temperatures safe, much like a car radiator stops an engine from overheating.