Plans for a £9.3bn Data Centre Campus on a 143-acre site in Stewartby have been deemed a development of national significance.

This means the decision over whether to approve the project will be made by the Government, and not the council.

Plans for the Quest Park Data Centre Campus were submitted by Questpit Ltd, a real estate company based in Borehamwood, with four data centre buildings to be developed on the land.

If approved, The Quest Park Data Centre Campus will be built on the site of a former clay excavation pit close to the B530 Ampthill Road. It would have a proposed IT load of up to 720MW, making it one of the UK’s most powerful data centres.

The campus would also include digital training facilities, office buildings and an on-site gas generation station.

In documents submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Questpit said the scheme would contribute between £46m and £73m annually to the UK economy and generate annual contributions of between £13.8m and £29m in taxes, plus £7.1m in business rates.

It’s also estimated the project will create between 710 and 1,145 direct jobs during the operational phase and significant temporary employment during the construction phase.

At national level, the proposed development is expected to generate up to 6,365 net additional jobs and contribute between £46m and £73m annually to the UK economy.

The project is also expected to generate £13.8m and £29.0m in taxes and £7.1m in business rates to boost both local and national government revenues.

The data centre would be powered by natural gas. Questpit’s application for the DCO notes that it intends to build a gas generation plant on the site to serve the data centre, and said the land is near three major gas pipelines. The company also intends to build a STEM training centre and offices on the land.

Questpit requested a Development Consent Order (DCO) back in April which meant taking the planning decision away from local planners. DCOs are designed to speed up planning permission for big infrastructure schemes with the decision expected to be made by Stephen Reed, Secretary of State in the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government (DHCLG).

In its response, the DHCLG said it was granting the DCO, but that “consultation/engagement equivalent to statutory consultation has not been carried out in respect of the proposed application for planning permission.”

It added no evidence had been provided “that any engagement has taken place other than with Central Bedfordshire Council and National Gas.” This means Questpit will need to carry out further consultation on the scheme before a decision is taken.

Planning permission for a film studio on the site was granted in 2023, but this project stalled when the company behind it, Verb Creative Holdings, went out of business.

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