Scottish Police Warn of 'Great Deal of Public Opposition' to New Data Centre Near Edinburgh

Key points

• Scottish police submitted a formal letter this month warning that a data centre planned for Larbert, about 30 miles west of Edinburgh, will face significant public resistance.
• Officers say the site will need strong security measures to prevent trespass and incursion.
• The warning came as part of an official planning consultation, meaning the project still needs government approval before work can start.
• Data centres, large warehouse-style buildings that house the computer servers powering AI services, have become flashpoints for local opposition across Scotland.

Data centres, the giant power-hungry buildings that store and process everything from your banking app to AI chatbots, are going up across Britain fast. Not everyone is pleased.

Scottish police made that tension official earlier this month, submitting a letter to planners warning that a proposed data centre in Larbert, a town in the Falkirk council area roughly 30 miles west of Edinburgh, will likely face fierce local pushback. The letter, filed as part of a routine planning consultation that all large developments must pass through, said officers expect "a great deal of public opposition" to the project. The Guardian first reported its contents.

We covered this pattern from a different angle on 9 August, when our story on British towns resisting AI infrastructure found Slough residents already living next to facilities that drink water and burn electricity at a scale that rivals whole neighbourhoods.

Why are people pushing back?

Residents near proposed data centres typically worry about noise from cooling systems that run around the clock, heavy electricity demand, water use, and the visual impact of warehouse-scale buildings in green or residential areas.

Scotland has seen a surge in proposed sites as tech and AI companies hunt for land with reliable power connections. That wave of applications has brought organised local resistance with it.

Police didn't spell out whether they expected protests, direct action, or both kinds of disruption. They did say the site would need what they called security measures capable of preventing incursion, meaning people entering without permission.

What does this mean for the project?

The Larbert facility isn't approved yet. Planning consultations gather views from public bodies, including police, before a local authority decides. Police concerns don't automatically block a project, but they carry weight and can push developers to add fencing and on-site security before ground is broken.

For communities nearby, the consultation stage is the clearest opportunity to put concerns on the official record. Anyone living close to a proposed data centre can submit comments through their local planning portal during an open consultation window. That matters: this is a real mechanism, not a gesture.

Common questions

What is a planning consultation and do ordinary people get a say?

A planning consultation is the formal process a local government runs before approving or rejecting a large building project. Ordinary residents can submit written comments, and councils are required to consider them.

Do data centres actually affect people living nearby?

The most common complaints are noise from cooling fans running all night and concern about strain on the local electricity grid. Some residents also raise worries about water use, since many facilities use water to keep servers cool.

Can police opposition stop a data centre being built?

No, not on its own. Police feedback goes into the planning file alongside community comments and the developer's own submissions. The final decision rests with the planning authority.

One honest takeaway: Scotland is becoming a test case for how much community resistance can slow AI infrastructure, not just delay it. Watch whether Larbert's consultation produces conditions attached to any approval, or a flat refusal. That result will tell us more than the police letter did.