Councilors have blocked plans for a data center on the site of a former bank headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland, despite officers recommending the scheme be approved.

Members of Edinburgh Council’s planning committee unanimously rejected the proposal to build a data center at 1 Redheughs Avenue. The site was formerly home to the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters, which was demolished in 2022.

As reported by DCD earlier this week, the data center would have had an IT capacity of up to 213MW.

First proposed last August, the data center was being pursued by Shelborn Asset Management, which owns the site. Described as a “green data center” in planning documents, the data center campus would have featured two data center buildings and been powered by renewable energy.

However, councilors eventually decided the scheme did not meet the criteria to be a “green” development under planning regulations.

In comments reported by the Edinburgh Evening News, Green Party councilor Alys Mumford said it was not clear where the power would come from for the data center. She said: “On power from renewable energy sources, we’ve been told there is something in place, but we haven’t been given the figures on this, we haven’t been able to hear from the power providers.”

The development had also attracted criticism from those concerned about its potential impact on the local area. The council decided not to request an environmental impact assessment (EIA) be carried out for the project, much to the chagrin of environmental campaigners. The group Action to Protect Rural Scotland reportedly described the decision not to mandate an EIA as “gobsmacking,” while voicing worries about the presence of diesel backup generators at the site.

It is the second failed attempt Shelborn Asset Management has made to develop the site. It had initially planned an office and residential development on the land, but despite receiving planning permission, decided to pivot to the data center scheme due to the changing economic climate.