Have your say by 8 January 2027
The UK Government’s draft policy for data centres is open for comment. It applies to England, but it is likely to shape what happens in Wales, which has no policy of its own. We found nothing in it to protect households in a drought or a power shortage.
The Treasury’s Data Centre Covenant, published the same day, applies in Wales and offers “strategic” data centres faster access to the grid.
The draft policy and how to respond What the Covenant means for Wales
Data centres in England and Wales
Ask the questions before the concrete is poured.
Data centres are being planned at a pace set by the race to build AI. The decisions that matter most — water, power, chemicals, who controls the data — are often settled long before anyone asks the people who live with the result. This site sets out those questions, in plain English, so that anyone can ask them in time.
New here? Start with what brings you
You do not need to know anything about planning, energy or computers. Choose the line that fits you best.
“A data centre may be built near me”
A step-by-step guide: how to find out what is planned, what you can ask, and the deadlines that matter.
Start here →
“I want to understand the issues”
Short guides in plain English to water, power, chemicals, jobs, data and more. Each takes a few minutes to read.
See the issues →
“I want to ask a question”
Questions written out in full, with who to send them to. Copy them, adapt them and send them.
Find a question →
“I’m on a council or in a local group”
A printable checklist of fifteen questions every major proposal should answer, and a guide to checking the environmental assessment.
Open the toolkit →“I’ve met a word I don’t know”
Plain explanations of the terms used on this site and in planning papers, from “EIA” to “megawatt”.
Open the glossary →
“I want the full detail”
The complete paper, section by section, with every source linked so you can check it yourself.
Read the paper →How each issue is explained
- Simple guide: what is at stake, in plain English.
- Questions to ask: drafted for you, with who to send them to.
- In depth: the full text of the paper and its sources, if you want them.
Can’t find something? Use the search box at the top of every page, or see the site map.
Why timing is everything
A data centre's biggest effects are fixed early: where it goes, how it is cooled, which chemicals protect it, how much power and water it reserves. By the time a planning application is published, many of those answers have already been given — by default, and in private. That is why this site asks its questions before designs are finalised and long before anything is built.
Site search and land deal
Where it goes, and on what terms.
locationwater catchmentgrid routeland lease termsPower and water agreements
Capacity is reserved long before plans are drawn.
grid connectionwater supplywho pays for upgradesDesign
The engineering choices that set impacts for decades.
cooling typefire-suppression chemicalsbackup generatorsbuilding size- Public consultation usually starts here
Planning application
Often the first the public hears of it.
EIA or notconditionscommunity benefit Construction
Two to three years of building.
trafficnoisetemporary jobsOperation
Twenty years or more, day and night.
water and power drawgenerator testingreportingEnd of life
Rarely discussed at all.
decommissioningchemical removale-waste
This is a simplified picture drawn for this site. The order varies from project to project, and in Wales developers of major schemes must consult the community before submitting an application — but even that usually comes after the site, the power and the basic design have been chosen.
The issues
Nine issues drawn from the paper “Beyond Planning Permission”, plus a real case study. Each page follows the same pattern: what is at stake, what we know, what nobody has yet answered, the questions to ask, and what you can do. Each issue has a short, simple guide and an in-depth page with the full text of the paper.
Water
Cooling, drought and who gets cut off first
How much water on the hottest day of a drought, and who is cut off first?
Power and the grid
Electricity demand, carbon and who pays for upgrades
Who pays for the grid upgrades, and what else waits in the queue?
Chemicals and the local environment
PFAS 'forever chemicals', noise, heat and decommissioning
Which chemicals will be stored on site, and what happens to them in 30 years?
Who really benefits
Jobs, tax, and whether the investment will happen
How many permanent local jobs, once construction ends?
Who controls the data
Sovereignty, foreign law and dependence on foreign providers
If your records are stored here, whose law ultimately applies?
Resilience and concentration
Backups, single points of failure and clustering
What happens when too much depends on too few sites?
AI and the precautionary principle
What the builders of AI themselves are warning about
What evidence would move government from precaution to reassurance?
How decisions are made
Planning law in England and Wales, and who decides
Who actually decides, and when does the public get a say?
Who is affected?
When the "neighbour" lives miles away on the same water or grid
Should people sharing the same reservoir or grid be consulted?
Case study: Bro Tathan
Where several of these issues meet on one real site in the Vale of Glamorgan
What was decided before the public was asked?
Case study: Cardiff East
A 150 MW data centre with its own gas power station, beside the A48
Has the environment been properly assessed? Comments close 28 October.
What you can do
You do not need to be a planner, a lawyer or an engineer. You need to know what to ask, who to ask, and when.
Start here
A plain-English guide for anyone who has just heard about a data centre near them.
Questions tracker
Every question on this site, who it should go to, and whether anyone has answered it yet.
Toolkit for local groups
Fifteen questions every major proposal should answer, as a checklist you can print.
Latest
2 November 2026 · News
The Data Centre Covenant applies in Wales
A fast-track for “strategic” data centres, decided in London.
2 November 2026 · News
Have your say on England’s draft data-centre policy, by 8 January
Why people in Wales should respond, and a new guide to data-centre numbers.
30 October 2026 · News
The Data Centre Covenant: what it means for Wales
Priority grid access, England’s draft policy, and power for Bro Tathan.
21 October 2026 · News
Cardiff East: batteries, the land sale and an updated paper
A short battery guide, a question about the land sale, and updated papers.
19 October 2026 · News
Cardiff East data centre: comments close 28 October
A new case study, and our representations to the Council.
16 October 2026 · News
Bro Tathan: what the screening file shows
The Council’s file, released under the Environmental Information Regulations.
13 October 2026 · News
The Minister for AI updates Parliament
A statement on AI risk and cyber security, and what it means for the questions here.
11 October 2026 · News
Who controls the machines?
Control of computing power, and the UK’s national AI institute on risk.
New · Who controls the data
Sovereignty by dependence
Have host nations quietly given away part of their sovereignty by depending on foreign providers?
Take part
List your campaign
A simple directory so local groups can find each other.
Where we stand
This site is not against data centres. They carry our medical records, our banking and our public services, and some will be built here. It is against decisions of this size being made quickly, privately, and on the strength of the developer’s own figures. We ask for evidence before consent, not reassurance after it.
We try hard to separate what is known from what is not. Where a claim rests on a source, the source is linked. Where it rests on our own reasoning, we say so. Read the frequently asked questions.