West Yorkshire mayor defends controversial Microsoft datacampus set to be built in Leeds
“In order to be globally competitive, businesses are telling me this is exactly what we need”
The Mayor of West Yorkshire has voiced her support for a major datacampus to be built in Leeds amidst rising public backlash to the project.
Microsoft plans to build a trio of three-storey datacentres at Skelton Grange in Stourton, which will be used to support digital infrastructure including AI.
The proposed development received approval from Leeds City Council last year, but there is now growing public scrutiny against the project.
A petition against the datacentres has attracted over 43,000 signatures, while a protest organised by campaign group No Leeds Datacentre, was attended by over 250 people on September 12.
Mayor Tracy Brabin has now defended the controversial datacampus, saying that the economic case for the Skelton Grange scheme is “really powerful”.
Speaking on BBC Radio Leeds on September 15, the mayor said: “We have to bear in mind that our businesses are saying that they need this compute.
“In order to be globally competitive, businesses are telling me this is exactly what we need.”
Stating that “big tech will not have a blank cheque in West Yorkshire”, the mayor said she “will take each individual case as it stands.”
On the show she argued that the project would bring 1,000 jobs to West Yorkshire and £4 billion in local community investment.
Regarding environmental concerns, Mayor Brabin said that she was assured Leeds City Council would have “really rigorously" assessed the proposal, and that she has also been having conversations with Microsoft.
Mayor Brabin said: “I’ve been speaking to Microsoft myself and saying this is their opportunity to be the greenest datacentre in the country and we’ll support them to do that.”