Data centres the height of nine double-decker busses could be built on the Slough Trading Estate under proposed new planning rules

Council leaders are being asked to approve an updated simplified planning zone (SPZ) for the trading estate. This allows business and industrial buildings to be built there without the need to apply for planning permission for each one.

The new SPZ wants to allow for buildings as tall as 36 metres in parts of the estate – up from 23 metres in the current one. But some neighbours have expressed worry that the height of new data centres would ‘distort’ Slough’s skyline or overlook homes.

Responding to a recent consultation on the new rules, one resident told the council: “I see tall square like metallic buildings popping up fast here and there around me and with a little research I can see these majority are data centres mainly along with few others.”

READ MORE: Firm building huge data centre campus on AkzoNobel site goes bust

Another, Peter Godliman, said he supported the new rules. But he wanted reassurance that no buildings north of the railway line would overlook homes on the other side.

Wexham Court parish council also objected to the plans, arguing that ‘the height of the buildings will distort and disturb the skyline of Slough’.

Council planning officers say the new SPZ has been drawn up to ensure the tallest buildings protect ‘neighbouring residential amenity’. The plans show that the tallest buildings will be concentrated mostly towards the centre of the estate and away from homes.

Officers also say the increased heights have given the council ‘an opportunity to introduce strict new design’ rules for new buildings. They say this ‘will ensure that the “metallic buildings” that are “popping up” will not be repeated’.

The new SPZ says the council and SEGRO – which owns Slough Trading Estate – both want to increase the height limits as ‘industrial buildings and data centres are now increasingly able to be taller’.

The SPZ said this allows them to make best use of the industrial land available in Slough, while keeping the town competitive and attractive to businesses.

The new SPZ also says the council and SEGRO – the company that owns Slough Trading Estate – both want to ‘optimise the amount of economic development’ that goes on there.

It says the number of offices along Bath Road is likely to continue falling as demand for offices drops off with the rise in home working.

But it says it ‘recgonises the role’ that data centres will play on the estate, as these are ‘essential pieces of infrastructure that play a vital role in supporting the rapidly expanding digital economy’.

It says: “Slough is an internationally recognised location for data centres and currently has around 10 per cent of the facilities in the UK.” It says this is because of Slough’s location near London and access to a fast and secure network.

Planning officers are recommending that the council leaders’ cabinet committee approves the updated planning rules when it meets on Monday October 21.