Datacenter builds could be shielded from judicial review in UK planning reforms

The UK government is preparing reforms to reduce delays in delivering critical energy and infrastructure projects. The plan would allow Parliament to designate key projects as having critical national importance, limiting their exposure to judicial review. The government argues that judicial reviews have repeatedly delayed vital infrastructure delivery. The reforms are intended to enable faster construction of power plants, wind farms, and grid connections to lower bills, strengthen energy security, and support growth across the country. Datacenter projects are not explicitly named, but server farms have been treated as urgent infrastructure. Server farms received Critical National Infrastructure designation in 2024, and proposals seek further classification as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects to shift decisions to the national level and reduce local resident influence.

"The UK government may move to forestall objections to datacenter projects via an overhaul of planning regulations that would shield critical energy and infrastructure buildouts from legal challenges. Finance minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, is preparing to unveil reforms allowing Parliament to designate key projects as having critical national importance to prevent them from being subject to judicial review. "For too long, vital infrastructure delivery has been delayed by judicial reviews of projects," a spokesperson for HM Treasury said in a statement."

"The Chancellor "is clear that Parliament must take back control to get Britain building the power plants, wind farms and grid connections that will bring bills down, strengthen our energy security, and deliver growth in every part of our country." This does not explicitly mention datacenters, but as The Register has reported previously, massive server farms have already been lumped in with energy generation as projects to be urgently fast-tracked by government."

"Back in 2024, server farms were given Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) designation - a move that a government a civil servant warned would allow the authorities to override opposition to datacenter sites by local residents. Last year, a datacenter project management biz urged the government go a step further and categorize large datacenter developments as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). This would shift decision-making from local authorities to the national level, potentially expediting approvals for large projects, while removing any say that local residents may have in developments that affect them."

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