Planning pipeline · data as of 18 Oct 2026

Scotland’s Data Centre Map and Tracker

Large data centre proposals in Scotland, from pre-application notices to live planning applications and appeals, plus the sites already operating. Each entry shows its council planning record, where one exists, and its other sources by type, so every claim can be checked against more than one publisher.

How sources are graded: 37 of 47 entries corroborated ↓

Sites

Map: Natural Earth

OperatingUnder constructionApplication lodgedRefused / appealPre-applicationAnnouncedGrid queue onlyStalled

Circle area scales with MW. Hollow rings have no published capacity. Positions are approximate (town or estate level).

Proposed, in progress and stalled

Schemes from first announcement through to a lodged application, plus those under construction, refused or stalled. Most are large AI campuses still at pre-application, and together they would add many times today's operating capacity.

Operating

Data centres running in Scotland today, mostly colocation, bank and research sites in the Central Belt, Aberdeen and Dundee. Most are small; the largest, DataVita DV1 at Chapelhall, is about 24MW.

Planning and policy timeline

How sources are graded

Each entry lists every source we used, labelled by who published it. An entry counts as corroborated when at least two different publishers report it and at least one of them is not a campaign group or a commercial directory.

GovernmentScottish or UK Government, Parliament, the planning appeals division (DPEA), NESO

CouncilLocal authority planning portal records, news or committee papers. Planning records were searched on each council's portal for "data centre" on 18 Oct 2026.

NoticeStatutory planning notices published in local papers

OperatorThe operator's or developer's own website or press release

NewsNewspapers, broadcasters and trade press

CampaignCampaign groups and petitions, including the APRS tracker

DirectoryCommercial data centre listings and property agents

Some news sites block automated link checks, but every link here was found through search and checked on 18 Oct 2026; none returned "not found".

Scottish Borders

Southside Data Centre, Longformacus

Sunlaws Development Co.Sunlaws Development Co. (Roxburghe Estate)

Pre-application5 sources225 MWLarge

Where it stands5 independent sources

Announced
Proposal notice
Application
Decision
Built

Proposal notice 26/00809/PAN lodged 25 May 2026. A full application can follow 12 weeks after a notice. Decisions on data centres of 50 MW or more are currently paused for up to 12 months while national guidance is drafted.

Have your say · council applicationNo application to comment on yet. At proposal stage, comments go to the developer's public events.Council record 26/00809/PAN ↗How to have your say

Have your say · petition48,812 signaturesSave the Lammermuirs: stop the data centre ↗Signing a petition does not lodge an official objection with the council. Only comments made on the planning application count in the decision.

Size225 MWLarge5.6% of Scotland's winter peak demandSite about 131.7 ha

Surroundings

Nearest building 5 m · 44 within 500 m
3% of the site in a river flood zone
Scheduled monument (Longformacus House,enclosed cremation cemetery 1450m SW of) 95 m away

See the map

Public responseNo council comments published yet. Petition: 48,812 signatures.

How the flags work

Red: nearest building within 100 m, 10% or more of the site in a flood zone, or a designation overlapping the site. Amber: building within 500 m, any flood-zone overlap, or a designation within 500 m. Green: none of these. Measured from the council's application site; buildings from OpenStreetMap, flood zones from SEPA, designations from NatureScot and Historic Environment Scotland.

Overview

151ha at Clawbare Cottage with three two-storey buildings, about £2bn. Scoping opinion issued; application targeted for late 2026 or early 2027, construction from 2029.

The developer's case

Promoted by Roxburghe Estates and a local landowner as driving regional economic development and local jobs. Baxtel

Consultation events

4 Jun 2026 Early engagement session, Longformacus Village Hall
10 Jun 2026 Consultation event, Westruther Village Hall

Public Notice Portal Public Notice Portal

Comments made at these events go to the developer. They are not formal comments to the council, which can only be made once an application is lodged.

Jobs in context

Permanent jobs claimedNone published

At the 1.6 per MW study averageabout 360for 225 MW

Industry modeltechUK, based on older, smaller sites8.5

Planned UK sitesVerdant study of 20 schemes, 20261.6

QTS Cambois, Northumberland720 MW, about 400 jobs0.56

Permanent jobs per megawatt of capacity.

Construction jobs are real but temporary. Figures for "job-years", "jobs supported" or "indirect" jobs count work elsewhere in the economy, not people on site. The per-MW measure comes from the think tank Verdant; techUK says it misses jobs supported outside the site, and the UK Government calls it misleading. The Next Web Resultsense

Claimed benefits

Investment	Developer estimate About £2bn Baxtel
Local spend	Not stated
Economic value (GVA)	Not stated
Community benefit	Not stated
Skills and training	Not stated

Developer estimate The developer's own figure for what it plans to spend. Not a commitment.
Modelled estimate Comes from an economic model the developer paid for. Not checked independently.
Promise only Not yet written into a legal agreement (Section 75) or a planning condition, so it cannot be enforced.
Secured Written into a signed legal agreement or planning condition.

None of these benefits is secured yet for any scheme we track. GVA (gross value added) is the economic output a scheme is modelled to add.

Site and design

Land	Greenfield estate land Baxtel

Worth knowing: No jobs figures published.

The opening lines summarise in our own words how the developer presents the scheme. Items marked Claim are the developer's own figures, not independently checked.

The objectors' case

Objectors ask why a data centre should go in the Lammermuir Hills, which they describe as a treasured landscape known for wildlife, open moorland, dark skies, hill farming and tranquillity. change.org petition

petition signatures48,812

Petitions and campaigns

Save the Lammermuirs: stop the data centre ↗ 48,812 signatures on change.org

The opening lines summarise in our own words how objectors present their case. Campaign claims get the same checks as the developer's figures. Petition signatures are not verified as local and are not formal objections to the council.

Site and surroundings

Loading map layers…

Site centreResidentialIndustrial / commercialWoodland River floodSurface water floodCoastal flood SSSI / SAC / SPAAncient woodlandHeritage designation Listed buildingSchool, care or healthPower line250 m · 500 m · 1 km from the site centre

See the exact red-line boundary on the council's map ↗ · Building counts and flood shares are measured from the council's application boundary; the rings are drawn from the site centre. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence. Flood maps © SEPA; designations © NatureScot and © Historic Environment Scotland; all under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Planning

Where it stands: Pre-application events held Jun 2026.

Proposal of application notice26/00809/PAN · Decided · 25 May 2026
EIA screening or scoping26/01031/SCO · Decided · 08 Jul 2026
Planning application lodgedNot yet lodged
Council decision

Site locationCentre of the application site for 26/00809/PAN, about 131.7 ha. Grid reference E 367272 N 654742. Boundary includes the access and grid connection corridor.

See the red-line boundary on Scottish Borders Council's map ↗

Council planning record · Scottish Borders Council

Reference	Type	Status	Date	Applicant
26/01031/SCO	EIA scoping	Decided	08 Jul 2026	Sunlaws Development Company Ltd
26/00809/PAN	Proposal of application notice	Decided	25 May 2026	Sunlaws Development Company Ltd
25/01835/SCR	EIA screening	Decided	11 Dec 2025	Sunlaws Development Company Ltd

Rules that apply

Over 50MW, the council must notify Scottish Ministers within seven days of validating an application (in force since 17 Aug 2026). Scottish Government
Over 50MW, an Environmental Impact Assessment is now mandatory (Direction of 16 Sep 2026), including for applications already in the system. Scottish Government
On 16 Sep 2026 MSPs backed pausing planning decisions on large data centres for up to 12 months while national guidance is drafted, expected by December 2026. Resultsense
For a major development, the developer must lodge a proposal of application notice and hold at least two public events, and cannot submit the application until 12 weeks after the notice.

Search the Scottish Borders planning portal for the latest documents, consultee responses and public comments.

Public response

No public comments published on 26/01031/SCO yet (council portal, 19 Oct 2026).

Concerns reported

Landscape of the Lammermuir Hills; campaign group formed Urban Realm

Case made for it

None reported

Issues as reported in news and campaign coverage, not a count of comments.

Statutory consultees

14 consulted, 9 responded. Including: Roads Planning Service · Archaeology Officer · Ecology Officer · Landscape Architect · Environmental Health · Access Officer · Health & Safety Executive · Royal Society For Protection Of Birds (Scotland) · Nature.Scot

Sources

NoticeSunlaws Development Company pre-application information days · Public Notice Portal
NewsBerwickshire data centre team welcomes response to EIA scoping submission · Scottish Construction Now
NewsHill fort-style data centre sparks a war of words · Urban Realm
CampaignData centre map and table (updated 13 Aug 2026) · APRS

Map: Natural Earth

Position is the centre of the application site on the council's planning map. Other tracked sites nearby are shown and open their own page. OpenStreetMap · Google Maps

Stage: Pre-application
Capacity: 225 MW
Size band: Large (50 to 249 MW)
5.6% of Scotland's winter peak demand
?
Electricity: It would use 1.5–2.0 TWh a year, from typical use to full capacity: as much electricity as 430,000–580,000 Scottish homes (17–22% of Scotland's homes), or 7–9% of all the electricity Scotland uses. That is 11–15% of what every business, factory and public building in Scotland uses, and 36–48% of the electricity used by every electric train in Britain. ?
For balance: Scotland generated 51.8 TWh in 2024, more than twice the 21.7 TWh it used, and in 2025 about 8.8 TWh of wind in northern Scotland was switched off because the grid could not carry it. Developers argue data centres could use power that is now wasted. Whether a site would depends on where it connects: most switched-off wind is in the north, most proposals are in the Central Belt, and data centres need power on calm days too. Scottish Government The Energyst (Montel analysis)
Developer: Sunlaws Development Co. (Roxburghe Estate)
Location: near Duns
Council: Scottish Borders
Latest: Pre-application events held Jun 2026
Coordinates: 55.7849, -2.5234
Grid ref: E 367272 N 654742
Site area: about 131.7 ha