Data Centre Industry News & Market Intelligence

Plan to build £1 billion data centre in Essex near A127

billion data centre build

Plan to build £1 billion data centre in Essex near A127

A brand new £1billion data centre planned to be built near the A127 could create 120 jobs, the developer has said. ARC:MC architects have designed a “state-of-the-art” AI-ready data centre, emergency power generators, and an electricity sub-station.

Initial construction will represent £500m investment, the developers said, with further phases and fit out with computer servers bringing the total investment to £1.2 billion. The plans also include a 34.5-acre area of publicly accessible green space and a local nature reserve with new ponds and wetland habitats.

The site – between the A127 and Nevendon Road – has been identified as a potential site suitable for employment use in Basildon Council’s draft local plan and is next to an electric vehicle charging station on Nevendon Road that has planning permission to be built.

ARC:MC said “legal mechanisms” will be put in place to ensure that no further developments are built on the “green gap” between Basildon and Wickford in this area next to where the centre could be built. Residents are now being consulted on the plans, with a public exhibition of the proposals is being held from 2pm to 7pm on January 22 at the New Life Church on Silva Island Way in Wickford.

Colin Hyde, Principal Director at ARC:MC, said:

Almost every person and every business now use data services on a daily basis, whether for streaming TV shows, ordering takeaways, or banking online.

“Digital connectivity is so important to our lives that the government has classified data centres as critical national infrastructure, like water and electricity.

Data centres have highly specific requirements that few sites can match – access to fibre connections, available power, and proximity to data users. This site in Wickford is almost uniquely suitable for a data centre.

John Bourne from Caineal LLP, the land developer leading the project, said:

By bringing forward our proposals in Wickford, we can ensure that the local and national economies reap the benefits of jobs and investment, rather than the UK outsourcing our data to other countries in Europe.

“In addition to the 120 jobs and the investment that the data centre itself will provide, our proposals will also let us hand over 34.5 acres of green space and a nature reserve to the local community, which will help permanently safeguard the green gap between Basildon and Wickford.”

READ the latest news shaping the data centre market at Data Centre Central

Plan to build £1 billion data centre in Essex near A127, source

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