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Planning permission sought for UK’s largest AI datacentre campus
North Lincolnshire Council has received a planning permission application for another large-scale datacentre development, in support of its bid to become an AI Growth Zone
North Lincolnshire Council has received a planning application for a 1,000mW datacentre campus, as its push to become a government-backed artificial intelligence (AI) Growth Zone gathers pace.
According to the project documents, seen by Computer Weekly, the development would be the largest datacentre in the whole of the UK on completion, with the masterplan suggesting up to 15 “different datacentre plots” could be housed there.
“This would be the largest datacentre campus in the northern part of the UK, and indeed the whole of the UK at the time of preparing the planning application,” the Economic needs and benefits document for the project stated.
The development will be located on the site of the former RAF Elsham Wolds World War II airfield, which neighbours a nearby industrial park.
Plans for this latest project were submitted to the council at the end of May 2025.
Based on previous communications from the council, from February 2025, the Elsham Tech Park plan appears to be the third of four projects that will form the backbone of the local area’s bid to become an AI Growth Zone.
A post about the build on the North Lincolnshire Council website said up to £7.5bn will be invested in bringing the plans to fruition, and it is expected the project will generate up to 1,200 highly skilled jobs once the work on it is completed.
Positive sign
Council leader Rob Waltham said the proposed project is “another positive sign of confidence in our economy and in North Lincolnshire as a place to do business”.
“It’s further evidence that the work we are doing to enable growth and create the conditions for private investment is delivering real results and better-paid jobs for our communities,” he said.
As previously reported by Computer Weekly, the government has received hundreds of bids from local authorities across the UK that want their areas to become home to AI Growth Zones.
As detailed in the UK government’s January 2025 AI opportunities action plan policy paper, the plan is to create AI Growth Zones in de-industrialised parts of the country that can be readily redeveloped and have “enhanced access to power and support for planning approvals” so these developments can be fast-tracked.
This is in support of the government’s push to position the UK as an “AI superpower”, and make the use of AI technologies and services more pervasive across the UK.
Read more about datacentre developments
- A proposal to build one of the biggest datacentres in Europe has been submitted to Hertsmere Borough Council, and already has the support of the technology secretary and local councillors.
- The UK government has unveiled its 50-point AI action plan, which commits to building sovereign artificial intelligence capabilities and accelerating AI datacentre developments – but questions remain about the viability of the plans.
Furthermore, the government has specified that sites must have access to power connections of at least 500mW, or local authorities must have a clear plan in place to demonstrate how they would generate that amount of power, to have their AI growth zone bids considered.
The project is being overseen datacentre developer Greystoke, and a newly created company, trading as Elsham Tech Park, has been set up to front it.
Two of its directors – Sam Matthew and Nick Aldridge – are also actively involved in another Greystoke datacentre development in the region, known as Humber Tech Park, as confirmed by Companies House.
In a statement, published on the North Lincolnshire Council website in February 2025, Matthew – who also serves as chief operating officer at Greystoke – talked up the benefits acquiring AI Growth Zone status will make to the area.
“It will create exciting new opportunities for national and regional industries,” he said. “North Lincolnshire’s substantial energy infrastructure and extensive skills base make it the ideal location for an AI Growth Zone.”
Outline planning permission for that development, valued at £3bn, was granted by North Lincolnshire Council in August 2024, with that project expected to increase the availability of AI datacentre capacity in the region by 384mW.
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