Ecclefechan Data Farm - latest

The company behind a multi-million pound data storage centre proposal in Dumfriesshire is seeking to extend its planning consent for three years.

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It comes as the current approval for the 241-acre farmland site near Ecclefechan is about to expire. Proposals to develop an internet data storage complex at Johnstonebank Farm first emerged in 2007. Dumfries and Galloway Council planning officials are recommending approval for the consent extension. A formal blueprint, tabled by Internet Villages International, was granted approval in principal by the local authority in 2010. However, the project stalled when the Lloyds Banking Group, which had earmarked the site as a potential location to house its computer servers, withdrew its interest.Last year, another firm, Scotia Global Limited, took over the site with the aim of securing the Scottish government as its first data storage tenant. 

With outline approval for the project about to run out, the company is now seeking to renew planning consent for a further three years. The application has drawn a handful of objections including one from Hoddom and Ecclefechan Community Council.
The concerns raised include the impact on the local environment, loss of habitat and potential flooding. A fresh ecological survey was carried out on the site in July at the request of Scottish Natural Heritage.It said it was satisfied with the existing planning conditions in place.