Data centre on a vast scale is simply in the wrong place
Last week’s meeting in Auchtertool was a reminder of what community looks like when people feel something precious is at stake.
More than 200 residents turned out on a Wednesday evening to make sure their voices were heard about the data centre proposed for the village.
People are genuinely concerned about what the plans could mean for Auchtertool and the surrounding area.
As we have all now heard by now, the plans before Fife Council are for a 600MW hyperscale data centre campus north-west of the village, with buildings reportedly up to 35 metres high, alongside substations, roads, fencing, gatehouses and associated infrastructure.
This is an industrial development on a vast scale, and one that would sit uncomfortably beside the small rural community.
Supporters of the proposal may speak of investment in the area, and job creation, but residents are right to ask whether those promises justify the reality of such a vast industrial site beside a village of only a few hundred homes.
The concerns raised regarding energy demand, water use, noise, traffic, landscape impact and the sheer incompatibility of a facility of this size with a small rural setting are all completely valid.
We do not have to look far to see why caution is warranted.
Across Ireland, data centres now account for around 22% of national electricity use, with growing concern over grid pressure and household energy costs. In other parts of the world, communities have raised similar alarms about water demand, noise and the concentration of industrial infrastructure in places never designed to host it.
I have attended two local community meetings and have been genuinely impressed by the conduct of residents.
They are not anti-investment, and I believe it is entirely reasonable for them to say that this is not the right place for this development.
For a proposal of this scale, the burden must be on the developer to prove beyond doubt that it belongs here. I for one, remain unconvinced.