East Havering Data Centre Plans What It Means for the Borough

East Havering Data Centre plans are a major planning and infrastructure proposal in North Ockendon that combines digital infrastructure, energy systems, and public green space. The project matters because it affects jobs, land use, transport, energy demand, local planning, and the long-term economy of Havering.

What is the East Havering Data Centre plan?

The East Havering Data Centre plan is a proposed campus in North Ockendon, in the London Borough of Havering, built to house multiple data centre buildings alongside a horticultural facility, district heating, an ecology park, and a visitor centre. It is being advanced through a Local Development Order, or LDO, which is a planning route used for large developments.

The proposal sits on the boundary of Havering and Thurrock, east of the M25, and the council says it could deliver up to 400,000 square metres of data centre space. The same council material also describes the scheme as including battery storage, horticulture, educational uses, and renewable energy facilities.

A data centre is a building or group of buildings that stores, processes, and distributes digital data for businesses and public services. In practical terms, it supports cloud computing, websites, streaming, banking systems, and artificial intelligence workloads.

Why does the borough care about it?

The borough cares because the plan brings large economic promises, major environmental questions, and long-term land-use change into one project. Havering says the scheme could support jobs, council income, and wider investment, while residents and campaigners focus on green belt land, consultation quality, and environmental effects.

The council states that the project could generate a minimum of 9,000 jobs across construction, operation, and the wider supply chain. It also says the scheme could bring about £13.5 million a year in income to Havering Council.

At the same time, the development is being discussed as one of the largest data centre schemes in Europe, with public debate centred on whether the borough should host infrastructure of that scale. BBC reporting in 2024 and 2026 shows that the proposal has become a highly visible local issue.

How did the plan develop?

The plan has moved through several years of council discussion, developer engagement, and planning preparation before reaching formal consultation in 2026. Havering’s project page lists milestones from 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2026, showing that the scheme has been under active consideration for years.

In November 2022, the council considered the investment opportunity and later endorsed the proposals. In April 2023, cabinet members were updated on the plans, and by March 2026 the Strategic Planning Committee approved the draft LDO consultation.havering.

The consultation itself ran from 6 March to 12 April 2026, and the council says the consultation is now closed. That means the proposal has entered a formal review stage in which planning documents, environmental material, and technical assessments have already been published for public scrutiny.

What would be built there?

The proposal combines digital infrastructure with non-digital uses, including green space and energy-related facilities, rather than a single data hall estate alone. The current council material describes multiple data centre buildings, an indoor horticultural facility, a district heating network, an ecology park, and a visitor centre.

The council also says the wider project could include battery storage, horticulture, educational facilities, and renewable energy infrastructure. Digital Reef, the developer, has separately described a large campus with flexible build zones and green energy infrastructure on its project page.

This mixed-use structure matters because it shapes how the proposal is assessed. Planners must consider not only the data centre floorspace, but also access, ecology, energy connections, heating opportunities, landscape design, and public use of the site.

What is a Local Development Order?

A Local Development Order is a planning mechanism that grants permission in advance for specified development if the council approves the framework. It is designed for large projects where the authority sets the rules, tests the environmental evidence, and defines what can be built within the order.

Havering’s consultation page says the LDO is the mechanism that would allow the East Havering Data Centre Campus to be built. The council also says the LDO process still requires the same level of assessment and scrutiny as any major application.

The practical effect is important. Instead of assessing one standard planning application in the usual way, the council works through a draft order, supporting evidence, environmental statement, and consultation process before a final decision.democracy.

Why is the location significant?

The location is significant because it sits on a strategic edge of Greater London where power, data connections, and green belt land meet. Havering said in 2023 that the site was chosen because it offers access to both power and backbone data connections to the continent.

The site is described as being near the M25 and the Warley substation area, which makes energy infrastructure a central part of the case for the scheme. That location also explains why the project is framed as national digital infrastructure rather than only a local commercial development.

The green belt context is equally important. BBC reporting noted that the plans are on green belt land in North Ockendon, and that point has driven much of the opposition around land protection and development pressure.

What jobs and money are promised?

The council presents the project as a major employment and revenue opportunity for Havering, with both construction jobs and long-term operational roles. The current council project page says the scheme could support a minimum of 9,000 jobs across the borough and wider supply chain.

Earlier council material said the development could create around 10,000 jobs, while BBC reporting in 2024 noted the developer projected 1,240 permanent jobs. These different figures reflect different counting methods, time horizons, and stages of planning detail.

The financial argument is also central. Havering says the project could generate about £13.5 million annually for the council, while other local reporting has described the overall investment as around £5.3 billion or £14.7 billion, depending on the source and update date.

What are the environmental issues?

The main environmental issues are land use, energy demand, water use, biodiversity, transport, and the treatment of green belt land. These concerns are standard for large data centre developments, but they become sharper when a site covers a large rural-edge area and includes intensive digital infrastructure.publishing.

Havering’s consultation page confirms that a full Environmental Impact Assessment has been carried out and that the Environmental Statement identifies likely significant environmental impacts and mitigation measures. That means the borough has already treated the scheme as one with major environmental sensitivity.

National government research also shows why data centres attract scrutiny. A GOV.UK report on water use in AI and data centres says AI growth is increasing water consumption, mainly through cooling needs. That matters in any planning discussion about cooling systems and resource demand.

Why does green belt land matter here?

Green belt land matters because it is protected planning land intended to stop unrestricted urban sprawl and preserve open character. In England, green belt policy is a core part of the planning framework, so development on it attracts close review and public attention.

The East Havering site has been repeatedly described as green belt land in media coverage and local debate. That has made the proposal a test case for how digital infrastructure fits into long-term land protection policy in outer London.

The ecology park component is the main response to that concern. Havering says the proposal includes a 113-hectare ecology park, equivalent to more than 182 football pitches, with footpaths and cycle routes open to the public.

What is the ecology park for?

The ecology park is proposed as a large public green space alongside the data centre campus, with the aim of improving access, habitat value, and local amenity. The council says it would cover 113 hectares and be created in partnership with the local community.

This part of the proposal is important because it changes the project from a simple industrial-style campus into a mixed land-use scheme with recreational and environmental functions. The council says the park would be fully accessible and linked by new footpaths and cycling routes.

In planning terms, such a park can help with landscape impact, biodiversity compensation, and public benefit arguments. It does not remove the need for scrutiny, but it does show how developers try to balance infrastructure growth with local environmental gains.

How does it affect energy and heating?

The plan is tied to energy infrastructure because data centres need large, reliable power supplies and produce waste heat that can be reused. Havering’s 2023 update said the project includes a £113 million investment in a local power station at Warley and additional grid infrastructure on site.

The council also said the site could enable connection of 560 MW of green energy production for other grid customers, including solar, wind, battery, and green hydrogen projects in the borough. That links the data centre to a broader energy-system role rather than a single-building use.

The proposal also includes a district heating network. That is relevant because district heating can capture and distribute waste heat from large facilities, reducing energy waste where the network is properly designed and used.

What does it mean for local residents?

For residents, the plan means more consultation, more planning debate, and possible changes in traffic, landscape, jobs, and public access to land. Havering’s consultation materials show that residents were given access to planning, environmental, and technical documents before any final decision on the LDO.

The council also hosted public events in North Ockendon and Romford during the consultation period, each with a presentation and question-and-answer session. That structure shows that the authority treats the proposal as a major local issue rather than a routine site application.

Local opposition has focused on green belt loss, document volume, and consultation length. Reporting from campaign groups and local media shows that residents have questioned whether a 28-day review period gives enough time to assess thousands of pages of technical material.

What happens next?

The next stage depends on the Strategic Planning Committee and the council’s review of the consultation evidence. Havering says all comments will be reviewed after the consultation closes and that the LDO documents may be amended or sent for further consultation if major changes are needed.

The council’s process is clear. A full report goes back to the Strategic Planning Committee, which then decides whether to adopt the LDO. If adopted, the framework would unlock the campus subject to the conditions and controls written into the order.

That means the project is still conditional, not final. For the borough, the next steps determine whether East Havering becomes a landmark digital-infrastructure site or remains a contested planning proposal.

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Why does it matter beyond Havering?

The scheme matters beyond Havering because it sits inside the wider national debate about digital infrastructure, energy security, housing land pressure, and the future of the green belt. Data centres support the digital economy, but they also consume land, power, and water, which makes location choices politically sensitive.publishing.

Havering’s project is especially significant because it combines scale with planning symbolism. A large data centre campus on outer London green belt land becomes a reference point for other boroughs facing similar pressure from infrastructure demand.

The broader lesson is that data centres are no longer hidden industrial assets. They are now major civic developments that require planning clarity, public explanation, and environmental evidence at the same scale as roads, housing, or energy projects.

What is the lasting significance?

The lasting significance is that East Havering links digital growth to local planning in a highly visible way. It shows how boroughs can be asked to host national infrastructure while still addressing green belt rules, public consultation, and environmental mitigation.

If the project proceeds, Havering gains one of the most important data infrastructure sites in Europe, together with major employment and revenue claims. If it does not proceed, the case still shapes future arguments about where and how the UK places data centres.

For East London audiences, that makes the proposal more than a local planning story. It is a test of how modern digital economies fit into the physical and environmental limits of the borough.