{"id":2240688,"date":"2026-11-05T10:20:06","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T07:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2240688"},"modified":"2026-11-05T10:20:06","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T07:20:06","slug":"developer-says-1-2bn-norwich-data-centre-will-boost-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2240688","title":{"rendered":"Developer says \u00a31.2bn Norwich data centre will boost city"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/e05a\/live\/7afdaf50-7ad3-11f1-a130-2b898c796aa9.png”]<\/p>\n

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\"NorwichNorwich Apex<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
An artist’s impression shows what the proposed data centre on the outskirts of Norwich could look like <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A developer has defended plans for a \u00a31.2bn data centre on the edge of a city, insisting it will benefit the area despite thousands of objections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Matt Bartram, chief executive of Norwich Apex Ltd, said the scheme opposite Tesco Harford Bridge on the A140 could help turn Norwich into a “tech hub” amid a booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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His team wants to create one of the UK’s “greenest data centres” despite campaigners claiming it would have “terrible consequences” for neighbouring wildlife sites.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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If approved, construction could begin at the end of 2027, with the data centre expected to be operational by 2028.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Bartram added: “I doubt Norfolk will see many opportunities like this again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Norwich will become a tech hub.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“This is something that will be a positive thing for Norwich. We will develop this in a responsible manner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Data centres are becoming increasingly important to our everyday lives, supporting everything from healthcare and financial services to the development of artificial intelligence.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"OwenOwen Sennitt\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Some protesters with environmental concerns brought placards to the meeting about the data centre held at Keswick Reading Room<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Plans have been lodged with South Norfolk Council for the project in Keswick and a decision on the scheme is expected to be made early next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Campaigners are worried about its close proximity to Marston Marsh, a 64-acre protected site at the edge of the city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Broadcaster Jake Humphrey, who lives near the site, is among its most vocal opponents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But Bartram said its ecological assessments predicted that the data centre “is not expected to have any discernible impact” on the surrounding nature reserves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He added the site would use a closed-loop water cooling system which meant that once filled, no more water would be needed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mitigation measures would be implemented to prevent noise generated by the 72 cooling units on its roof increasing current background noise from the nearby roads, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Bartram added: “We recognise that a development of this scale raises legitimate questions about its environmental impact and what it means for neighbouring communities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Our ambition is to deliver a development that benefits the region economically while setting high standards for environmental responsibility.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Norwich Apex data centre would need 150MW of power to run it and hoped to utilise wind energy by connecting to the Hornsea 3 substation nearby. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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While significant, the scale of the site pales in comparison to another planned in Norfolk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Longmarsh Green Energy project planned for farmland near King’s Lynn would need 1.3GW to power it – and developers want to create one of the biggest solar farms in the country to supply energy for it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It has also been met with fierce opposition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Do you have a story suggestion for Norfolk? Contact us below.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Follow Norfolk news on <\/i>BBC Sounds<\/i>, <\/i>Facebook<\/i>, <\/i>Instagram<\/i> and <\/i>X<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cvp8gdxpdrkxo”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/e05a\/live\/7afdaf50-7ad3-11f1-a130-2b898c796aa9.png”] Norwich Apex An artist’s impression shows what the proposed data centre on the outskirts of Norwich could look like A developer has defended plans for a \u00a31.2bn data centre on the edge of a city, insisting it will benefit the area despite thousands of objections. Matt Bartram, chief executive of Norwich Apex […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2240688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2240688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2240688\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2240688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2240688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2240688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}