Every Month of Planning Delay Is a Month of Carrying Costs
Planning refusals and judicial review challenges don’t just kill projects — they bleed cash while a site sits idle. We remove that risk at the sourcing stage by screening exclusively for allocated employment land with strong Local Plan support, so you’re never fighting a designation battle you didn’t need to fight.
Your Sector Now Has Government-Backed Priority
In September 2024, the UK government designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) — placing data facilities into the same vital category as national energy and water systems.
Following this, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was updated in December 2024 to require local planning authorities to actively consider the need for data centres when setting local policy and determining planning applications.
We build every site strategy around this shift, so your application isn’t just compliant — it’s aligned with a statutory framework local authorities are now required to weigh in your favour. For qualifying hyperscale assets, this also interfaces with the option to utilise the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) consenting pathway.
A Legally Binding Timetable, Not a Waiting Game
Standard planning applications sit in a queue with no guaranteed timeline. We engage Local Planning Authorities before application through Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs) — formal legal agreements that secure dedicated planning officer resourcing and an agreed determination timetable.
This approach ensures you know when you’ll receive a decision, turning consenting from an open-ended waiting game into a predictable delivery milestone.
We Solve Objections Before They’re Raised
Objections that surface late in the planning cycle trigger statutory delays, costly revisions, or judicial review exposure. We run Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) scoping upfront — covering acoustic attenuation, traffic management, and landscape buffering — and open early negotiations on Section 106 obligations (the legal agreements developers make with local authorities to fund community infrastructure or environmental mitigation).
Addressing these requirements before submission, rather than after an objection is lodged, keeps your determination timetable firmly on track.
Planning Benchmarks
| Route | Outcome |
|---|---|
| PPA route | Statutory determination pathway with agreed timetable and dedicated officer resourcing |
| B2 / B8 allocated land | Employment-use designation already secured within the Local Plan |
| CNI-aligned | Positioned under the UK’s updated NPPF framework requiring LPAs to weigh data centre need |
Talk to Us
Talk to us about a site with the planning risk already engineered out. Reach out directly to our planning and origination team to review statutory packs and site diligence for our active pipeline.