Why it matters
Someone many miles away on the same water supply may be more affected than the house next door, and never know it.
Without published figures, nobody can say who is affected, so nobody is asked.
Key points
- Effects on shared water, sewerage and grid infrastructure are not confined to a site's boundary.
- The evidence needed to judge cumulative and regional effects is not routinely collected or published.
- This is one of the gaps the paper asks government and regulators to close first.
Questions you can ask
Drafted in full so you can copy, adapt and send them. See the questions tracker for all of them, with a downloadable version.
Ask: the Welsh Government and the UK Government
“Where a data centre's demand on water, sewerage or grid infrastructure is regional rather than local, who should be treated as an affected party for consultation, and what mandatory reporting would be needed to identify them?”
Follow-up: Not yet asked, so far as we know.
What you can do
- Find the application on your council's planning website, and check what the documents say on this issue, or whether they are silent. See Start here.
- Send the questions on this page in writing and keep copies.
- If information is missing, ask for it through WhatDoTheyKnow.
- Ask your town or community council to raise the issue in its response.
- List your group in the campaigns directory so others can find you.