Thousands march on Holyrood against data centres

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More than 80 organisations, ranging from trades councils, trade unions and climate campaigners to community groups and anti-poverty organisations, joined the 6,000-strong march down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile on to the Scottish Parliament.

The action was part of a Europe-wide wave of protests from Denmark and the Netherlands to Spain under the “stop dirty data centres” amid growing fears at the environmental impact that surge in speculative applications to build data centres.

In Scotland alone, there are currently 23 proposals making their way through local planning which, if all accepted, could almost treble peak energy demand.

Speaking from the march, Friends of the Earth Scotland senior campaigner Kim Pratt said: “What we would like to see is a pause on all the developments that are happening right now, and then a national conversation for the people of Scotland.

“What the Scottish government really needs to set out is explain why they think these AI data centres need to be built.”

Action to Protect Rural Scotland’s Kat Jones said: “Today we sent a clear message to the Scottish government. 

“We have had enough of hearing how the data-centre developers have had a hotline to the decision makers while communities and environmental organisations are excluded. 

South of Scotland Labour MSP Carol Mochan, who has actively supported campaigns against the centres across the region, told the Star: “Communities spoke loud and clear on Saturday with thousands of people questioning the pace of AI expansion and the need for AI hyper-scale data centres.  

“Communities have every right to expect meaningful consultation with government. 

“Jobs and communities are at risk if we allow multinational companies to dominate decisions around AI and the size and scale of these data centre proposals have significant implications for local infrastructure such as energy and water as well as the environment. 

“People should make decisions, not governments who are heavily lobbied.”

The Scottish government said it will be publishing new planning guidance on data centres before the end of the year and is “developing a strategic approach to maximising the public benefit from data centres located in Scotland.”