TL;DR
North Lanarkshire Council handed a resident’s personal details to Apatura, the developer behind a proposed 550MW AI data centre at Ravenscraig. Mary Ferrie, 71, rang the planning department’s answering service with questions and was called back the next day by the developer rather than the council. The authority has since conceded a breach and apologised.
What happened
Ferrie, from nearby Wishaw, had left her number expecting council staff to ring. “I was very surprised when I got the call. I thought it was the council on the phone,” she said. Told it had been a mistake, she remained unconvinced — it struck her as odd to be handed to someone at Apatura rather than to a more senior planning official. She has since set up a Facebook group opposing hyperscale developments of this kind.
The council says breaches are taken very seriously, that it will investigate, and that findings and training will be used to lower the risk of recurrence. It insists planning judgements are made impartially and independently, and that every data centre application will be weighed against the relevant legislation. Apatura made no comment when approached.
Planning Democracy called the episode corrosive to the planning system’s integrity, urging a full published investigation and a halt to data centre determinations until confidence returns. Its convener Clare Symonds said councils should stand apart from developers rather than serve as their receptionist.
The housing collision underneath
The eastern facility would occupy land earmarked for 1,040 homes, 200 of them due within a decade. Ravenscraig, a former steelworks left derelict on a scale matched by few sites in Europe, is being regenerated under a masterplan requiring housing, retail, schools and green space. In 2023 the council refused a rail freight terminal there, arguing that displacing residential land put the plan at risk and calling housing the site’s primary use.
Correspondence released under freedom of information suggests officials would not stand in the way if the developer supplied adequate supporting information. The chief executive also signed a letter backing Apatura’s unsuccessful AI Growth Zone bid.
Looking forward
Apatura has eight facilities working through planning across the central belt, with two more AI developments proposed inside North Lanarkshire alone. Scottish ministers say they are actively weighing whether guidance is needed. Set against a shortfall of 100,000 homes over fifteen years, as estimated by builders’ representatives, these decisions keep landing on councils with no framework for trading megawatts against housing.