UK government to rule on data center planned for former quarry in Bedfordshire

Government ministers will decide whether to approve plans for a data center campus at a former quarry in Bedfordshire, UK, after the project was designated as a development of national significance.

Real estate firm Questpit wants to develop the Quest Park Data Center campus on a 143-acre site at Ampthill Road, Stewartby, five miles south of the town of Bedford. The £9.3 billion ($12.3bn) project would see four data center buildings developed on the land, providing an eventual 720MW of IT capacity.

The site of the data center – Questpit

In April, Questpit requested a Development Consent Order (DCO) from the UK government, a move which would mean a decision on the project was taken away from local planners and put in the hands of Stephen Reed, Secretary of State in the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government (DHCLG). DCOs are designed to speed up planning permission for big infrastructure schemes.

Questpit also requested that the government treat the application as if statutory consultation had already taken place.