Summary

• A 147MW data centre proposal at Manor Farm in Slough has been approved by the UK government after planning intervention.
• The project includes a data centre, battery energy storage system, substation, offices, generators, access works, and landscaping.
• The decision places national digital infrastructure policy against Green Belt, local planning, power, and land-use concerns.

Slough Borough Council has received the final decision on a major data centre proposal at Manor Farm, after ministers intervened in a planning dispute over land near Poyle Road.

The proposal covers a 147MW data centre campus, alongside a battery energy storage system, substation, offices, emergency backup generators, fuel storage, landscaping, drainage systems, parking, and new or amended vehicle access. The application was submitted by Manor Farm Propco Limited, a company associated with Tritax Big Box.

The decision was made by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government on 10 June 2026, following a planning appeal and public inquiry. Slough Borough Council had raised concerns over Green Belt land, alternative sites, and the potential future use of the land for Heathrow-related freight activity.

The case sits inside a wider shift in how the UK treats data-centre development. In September 2024, data centres were designated as critical national infrastructure. Since then, ministers have shown greater willingness to support projects even where local authorities or residents object. The government’s argument is that AI, cloud services, digital public services, financial systems, and business operations now depend on compute infrastructure that cannot be left entirely to local planning delays.

Slough is already one of Europe’s most important data-centre clusters. Its proximity to London, fibre connectivity, and established ecosystem have made it a natural location for cloud and colocation infrastructure. That concentration also creates pressure. More data centres mean more demand for land, power, water, grid connections, backup generation, road access, and local political consent.

The Manor Farm decision brings those tensions into one planning case. Data centres are physically unglamorous but economically central. They enable cloud platforms, AI workloads, digital banking, streaming, enterprise applications, health systems, logistics platforms, and public administration. They also consume real resources and alter local landscapes. A 147MW project is not a small warehouse with servers. It is a major energy and infrastructure asset.

AI has changed the demand curve. Training and running advanced models requires dense compute, high power availability, cooling, and resilient network connectivity. Even where a facility is not exclusively an AI data centre, developers and policymakers increasingly justify capacity growth through AI, cloud, and sovereign technology arguments.

That logic may be economically sound, but it can weaken local trust if communities see data-centre approvals moving ahead without visible local benefit. Jobs during construction are not the same as long-term employment. Business rates may help councils, but residents still see buildings, traffic, power infrastructure, and environmental impact. If the UK wants more data centres, it will need a more coherent settlement between national digital infrastructure goals and local planning consequences.

The battery energy storage element also points to the next phase of data-centre planning. Power availability is becoming as important as land availability. Facilities need grid connections, resilience arrangements, and credible strategies for peak demand and backup. As AI infrastructure grows, the line between digital policy and energy policy will continue to blur.

Slough Borough Council can still challenge the decision within the statutory period. Whether or not it does, the direction is clear. The UK government is treating data centres as infrastructure needed for growth, AI adoption, and digital resilience. The unresolved question is whether the planning system, grid strategy, and local-benefit model can keep up without turning every major project into a national test case.