THE BIGGEST DATA CENTRE IN WALES

Next Generation Data (NGD), a UK based data center service provider is facing opposition from residents towards its South Wales data center expansion plans.

The current facility is a key Welsh data center and the largest in Wales, which was opened in 2008 with a 750,000 square foot building. Sited in Newport, the data center is already housing a number of large companies, including hyperscale cloud service providers, and is expecting to have Oracle cloud region later this year.

On submitting its expansion plan application to the local council, NGD met some resistance from residents on grounds of noise and views being affected from homes.

The company is planning to build four new three-story data center buildings, measuring about 23 meters high. With the site being 40 meters from the nearest house in the area, several residents have objected to the scheme. Cliff Jones, of the adjoining Pencarn Avenue, said some residents will have to “break their necks if they wish to see any skyline out of their kitchen window”.

Although admitted to the obstruction of Pencarn Avenue residents’ views, NGD maintains that the current data center will begin to approach its full capacity over the coming years, due to the significant global increase in demand for cloud data storage. Hence, the expansion will be necessary to meet increased demand going forward.

The plan states that the development will lead to the creation of about 30 new high-skilled jobs, adding that the expansion of NGD’s existing facilities will ensure significant investment in Newport’s economy and strengthen the area as a key center for the high tech industry.

Jones also raised concerns over noise from additional air handling units running 24 hours a day. Although he welcomes the new jobs being created, he said the expansion is “much too big in size, height and proximity to Pencarn Avenue”.

Newport council’s planning committee has set the coming months to consider the submitted plans.