Residents’ Association councillors had promised a five-year plan that they would protect the green belt. Have they abandoned this promise to build a data centre?

North Ockendon residents have been asking questions about the proposed data centre for so long, it was hoped that finally coming face-to-face with the Leader and Officers might provide some answers. 

Ian Pirie from Havering Friends of the Earth attended the meeting in support of the residents, who are strongly opposed to building an enormous structure on green belt farmland in their village.

An Agenda had been drawn up, with questions designed to focus the meeting, and the Facilitator, Karen, did a fantastic job of keeping the discussions together. However, my impression on behalf of the residents was that the meeting was disappointing. 

The first question was a very direct challenge: the Council, as Residents’ Association members, had promised – and the five-year plan repeated this – that they would protect the green belt. Why had they abandoned this promise? It seemed to me that the only answer the Leader and his team could give was that they represented the interests of Havering as a whole and were sometimes faced with difficult choices. 

The fact that Havering as a borough was given priority became even more clear when Cllr Morgon spelled out the benefits of having a data centre: first, it would be good for the reputation of Havering; then, it would provide jobs (the original promise of 9,000 jobs, it has been admitted, is nonsense); it would attract business – again, not to North Ockendon presumably! And of course, there is the promise of a substantial income through business rates. Money talks!

Further discussion about the green belt revealed that the team seemed to believe the new government’s more flexible policy on national infrastructure and the green belt would help. An indirect acknowledgement that current legislation does not look kindly on large-scale developments in the green belt?

Pressed on why the guidance for the LDO process, that early engagement with all stakeholders was desirable, had been ignored, we were again met with the stonewalling that has been going on for some months. An LDO has not yet been granted, so there wasn’t much information to share. It was pointed out that local residents have decades of knowledge of the area, its wildlife, etc. Perhaps this point was taken, as there will now be more meetings with officers. 

However, I was – I’m sorry to say – still left with many unanswered questions: was the council’s poor handling of the LDO process (they have whipped up a considerable amount of anger and distrust) a sign of inexperience, or manipulation?  We were frequently told that there is a distinction between the LPA (Local Planning Authority) who are guiding this process, and the Council. Why were we yet again talking to the Council and not the LPA?

How much does the council really know about data centres? On 1st August The Guardian carried a news item about an outcry in Uruguay as a result of Google planning to build a data centre that would cause pollution and water shortages. Other examples around the world are easily found. 

Finally, does the council really know North Ockendon, and its residents? Do its councillors really want to represent the people who voted for them? The three local councillors sat silent for the whole meeting until pressed specifically to say what each of them thought about the data centre. They were all non-committal.

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