The AI data centre at Shelford landfill has planning permission, issued 15 October, with a 20 cubic metre daily water cap and strict noise limits.

A data centre for artificial intelligence can be built at the Shelford landfill site, on Broad Oak Road. Canterbury City Council issued full planning permission on Thursday 15 October.

The decision follows Tuesday’s planning committee, where the application came back after councillors deferred it in July to visit the site. The decision notice for application CA/25/02094 grants it subject to 16 conditions.

Updated 7 November: the council has now published the committee’s minutes. The vote was four for, one against and three abstentions. Councillor Harry McKenzie left the room for the item because the site is next to his employer.

The minutes record that the committee amended condition 15. It now requires native trees and hedgerows along the northern boundary as a visual screen, and two bat or bird boxes. The committee also added a condition for a report on the site’s stability, covering its geology and hydrology.

What has been approved

The officers’ report describes the scheme:

  • a building 30.8m wide, 40.9m long and 11.7m high, with solar panels on its flat roof
  • a 2.7m high security fence around the compound, with parking and cycle spaces inside
  • a private wire to the Valencia Energy Centre next door, which makes electricity from landfill gas
  • a plot on the former composting area, where storage containers and a tank would be removed

The report says the building would run continuously and be staffed only by a security team, with occasional maintenance visits. It calls the project “sovereign AI infrastructure for the UK”, the first phase of a planned network of small AI data centres next to renewable power.

The company behind it is Era4. Its memo to the committee, dated 13 October, says councillors and local people visited the site on 9 October. It says most of the building would be made off site in modules, which it says would cut construction traffic.

Power and water

Residents’ main worries were power and water. The report says the centre would use around 140MWh of electricity a day when fully used. It says that is within what the Valencia Energy Centre generates on an average day. Anything extra would come from the National Grid, and the centre is expected to run on renewable power at least 75% of the time.

Objectors pointed out that the landfill is due to stop taking waste in 2036. Kent County Council, as the waste planning authority, told the council that gas production carries on for many years after a landfill closes, sometimes decades.

On water, the permission sets a hard limit. Condition 11 says the centre must not use more than 20 cubic metres of water a day. Before any cooling system goes in, Era4 must get the council’s approval for a cooling plan showing how its closed-loop system will work and stay within that cap. South East Water did not object on that basis.

The conditions neighbours will notice

The decision notice includes:

Condition What it requires
Noise (10) No more than 36dB from all plant in normal running, and 46dB in an emergency, measured at the nearest homes
Construction (4) A construction plan covering lorry routes and delivery times away from school and rush hours, before work starts
Working hours (4) 7.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 1pm Saturday, never on Sundays or bank holidays
Ground (16) A land stability report from an engineer, approved before work starts
Lighting (14) A lighting plan following bat guidance, approved before any outside lights go up
Screening (15) New native trees and hedges along the northern boundary
Use (9) The building can only ever be a data centre

Work must start within three years. The nearest homes are about 245m to the south-east on Broad Oak Road, according to the report.

Who objected

Three people wrote in against the scheme. Their grounds included water use in a water-stressed area, noise, building on a landfill site and the applicant having no track record of running a data centre.

Hackington Parish Council objected on energy use, disruption during building and the same track record point. CPRE Kent objected on ecology, water and traffic. No statutory consultee objected, including Kent County Council’s highways and ecology teams, the Environment Agency and Natural England.

A further letter arrived after the meeting, raising security risks. In a note dated 15 October, officers said this was not a planning matter, because the building is covered by Building Regulations and the data side is regulated by Ofcom.

The other applications on Tuesday

The same committee heard 402 student rooms at 59-61 Sturry Road and 56 Churchill retirement flats on Station Road West, both covered in our preview of the meeting. On 17 October the council’s planning register still listed both as “awaiting decision”. Both were recommended for approval only once a legal agreement is signed, so a delay is normal. We will report the outcomes when the minutes are published.

What it means for you

  • If you live near Broad Oak Road, construction cannot start until the council has approved the construction plan and the land stability report. Both will appear as condition applications on the planning register under CA/25/02094.
  • If the centre is noisy once it is running, the 36dB limit is enforceable. Report it to the council’s environmental health team.
  • Only the applicant can appeal a planning decision. Neighbours who think the decision was unlawful would need to seek a judicial review, which has a six-week deadline.

Our guide to Canterbury planning applications explains how conditions are discharged and how to follow them.

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