A new consultation has opened into controversial plans for a data centre on the Charlton riverside – with the developer arguing that it would be a quieter neighbour than the industrial estate that is already on the site.
Last month Greenwich Council said it was opposed to GLI’s plans for a 100,000-square metre centre off Anchor & Hope Lane and behind existing housing at Atlas and Derrick Gardens.
GLI also plans to build space for small businesses and the community, and promises to build parkland behind existing homes. It says the scheme could be worth £32 million to the local economy.
The data centre would be up to 30 metres high – about 10 storeys if it were a residential building – while two substations would be up to 23 metres.
The company says that the centre – which would be about 90 metres from the nearest properties – would be quieter than the industrial estate it replaces. GLI adds that it would use 217 times less water than an Olympic swimming pool because it would reuse water for up to 25 years rather than drawing new supplies from the mains.
It insists: “The data centre proposed at Charlton Gateway would not be used for AI. It is instead being designed to support the everyday digital services that people, businesses and public services rely on. This includes things like online banking, streaming, video calls, business systems, healthcare records and the storage of photos and emails.”
As well as wider worries among the public about the environmental and noise impact of data centres, the plan has caused controversy because it is in an area earmarked for 8,000 new homes in the coming years. The plot is next door to a site where the Hyde housing association plans to build 1,200 new homes.
Tom Creswell, Greenwich’s cabinet member for planning, said last month: “We want to deliver thousands of new homes and 1,000 new jobs in Charlton Riverside. We don’t think a data centre does that. We think it will take up too much space. It will be a nuisance for existing residents and also the residents who we hope will move into these new homes.”
But GLI argues that its scheme will help enable development on the riverside by creating new road and pedestrian links, including extending Herringham Road to the north of the data centre, while there would be 690 new jobs across the centre and small business space. However, a masterplan for the Charlton Riverside envisages building a road to the south of the site, rather than the north.
Much of the site was once home to Stone Foundries, which made metal castings for shipping and the aerospace industries for more than a century before moving to Kent in 2020. It also contains the VIP Industrial Estate, built on an old ropeworks, which is still in use.
The main Stone building will be refurbished but two other heritage buildings on the site would be demolished as part of the plans: remnants of an old ropeyard railway to the Thames would be retained and be turned into a feature of the development.
Plans for the centre first emerged in an initial consultation last year, although it was little-publicised beyond the immediate neighbourhood next to the site. Further details emerged in August when documents were filed with Greenwich Council, and a full application is expected later this year.
Data centres have been built for decades, but are growing in number to meet the demands of cloud computing and AI. The giant Docklands Data Centre Campus is under construction in Silvertown, opposite the Greenwich Peninsula; while in Croydon, Westfield is planning to redevelop the Whitgift Centre with a data centre and 4,000 flats.
The new consultation is open until October 20 at glicharltonriverside.co.uk.
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