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Nearly 250 data centre jobs could be lost after Dumfries council turnaround

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Nearly 250 data centre jobs could be lost after Dumfries council turnaround

A multi-million pound data centre investment and 250 well-paid jobs in the rural south of Scotland have been halted by Dumfries and Galloway Council.

Local councillors chose to reject a planning permission extension that would be needed for the first ever large-scale data farm in Scotland. This decision was made even though a Scottish Enterprise (SE) survey revealed that the site at Johnstonbank Farm was the second-best site for large-scale data storage in Scotland. The SE concluded that the site scored highly for security, environmental sustainability and connectivity.

The extension refusal was led by Labour councillor Archie Dryburgh, resulting in a 9-7 vote by councillors. According to the Sunday Herald, Mr Dryburgh admitted that he was not aware of the SE recommendation report before he voted against the plan. Councillors believed that the main problem behind the local plan was that it did not allocate industrial sites, which lie outside of the local plan framework according to section D9 of the Planning Act.

Mr Dryburgh said: "I do not agree that it was covered by D9. Nothing to date has changed my consistent position since 2010 and just because officers recommend approval does not mean to say that we as a planning committee [have to] agree."

A spokesman for Scotia Global, which was responsible for delivering the centre, added: "Not to go ahead with it means a loss to the local supply chain of £20 million of work already commissioned from local builder Robertson Scotland to supply a total of 800 outer 'shell' sheds. Scotia Global only employs 15 security and maintenance staff, but each of the data centres within the complex when built would be staffed by technicians employed by the data owners… these are skilled jobs that command salaries of upwards of £75,000. If fully built out, the site would employ 240 of these personnel, with 80 on site at any one time."

The spokesman added that Scotia Global has been advised by its local planning consultant to take this decision to an appeal.


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