Data centre at North Weald Airfield backed by councillors

It appears to be the latest boom industry, and Essex is clearly not going to miss out, with plans for a vast data centre at North Weald Airfield approved by Epping Forest District Council.

The scheme has been put forward by Google, together with the claim that it will create up to 200 jobs once operational, although there were fears about its effect on traffic and the market that is held at the site.

Planning committee vice-chairman Alan Lion told Essex Live: “It’s a much bigger site that’s in the Local Plan and also it’s part of the North Weald Strategic Masterplan.

“So these things have been considered and this has provided a significant employment opportunity and we could actually say that Google coming here is something of an advantage to Epping Forest because it does provide certain additional benefits.”

The North Weald Strategic Masterplan was approved in March 2023.

Epping Forest District Council’s planning committee backed the outline planning application for the data centre on Wednesday, December 10.