Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst has said that Three Rivers District Council (TRDC) has spent more than £108,000 on the public inquiry into why it refused a proposed 84,000 square metre data centre in Abbots Langley.
Leader of TRDC cllr Giles-Medhurst said the council brought in a team of experts to defend its refusal of the proposed green belt development.
The Public Inquiry into TRDC’s refusal of planning permission finished at the end of October. TRDC is now awaiting the Planning Inspector’s report, which will be sent to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner for her to decide whether to approve the scheme.
Cllr Giles-Medhurst said: “I hope she will back us and local residents. Once we see the Inspector’s report, I will be making it clear that should she decide to allow the development, then the promised money and planning gains the developer told us and Abbots Langley residents must be 100 per cent guaranteed to offset the harm to the area.”
Greystoke Land, who proposed the data centre, has been contacted for comment.
The destruction of pristine Green Belt is a crime, especially during a climate emergency.
Planners, please admit that and look for a brownfield site.