Angela Rayner Faces Legal Challenge Over Green Belt AI Datacentre Approval
Deputy PM Angela Rayner has been hit with a legal challenge after overruling Buckinghamshire council to approve a 90 MW hyperscale datacentre on green belt land beside the M25, without an environmental impact assessment. Tech equity group Foxglove and charity Global Action Plan warn it could drive up local power prices, strain water supplies and harm wildlife. The government argues the site will boost AI capacity, create hundreds of jobs and inject over £1 billion into the economy as part of its push to make the UK an AI powerhouse.