Plans to replace park and ride with huge data centre spark backlash

Kieran Molloy,

Plans to demolish a park and ride and replace it with a massive data centre have come under fire from local activists and Members of the Senedd (MSs).

Curtis Hall Limited has lodged plans with Cardiff Council to replace the Cardiff East Park and Ride in Llanrummney, which offers a free park and ride service to the University Hospital of Wales, with a data centre.

The application reads: “Data centres are an essential part of the national infrastructure, supporting cloud computing, AI, digital services and secure data storage.”

It continues: “The building types proposed for this site will reflect modern data centre design: resilient, energy-efficient, continuously operating, and highly secure.”

The plans have been met with opposition from Acorn, a tenants’ union with membership in the local area, who have set up a petition urging the plans to be thrown out.

Hannah Dahwa, 40, a local resident in the area, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “The sort of headline concerns that are the most concerning about the data centre is the amount of energy and water that it will use and the impact it will have on local communities.”

She claimed the data centre would use the equivalent of 100,000 homes’ worth of electricity and roughly 1,800 homes’ worth of water.

Ben Hall, a director at Curtis Hall Limited, did not deny these figures but said they represent “the upper end of any potential impact, not a typical operating day”.

He continued: “In practice actual energy and water use would depend on the end user.

“The type of computing deployed (for example AI, hyperscale, or cloud workloads), the generation of chips used, and the cooling technology selected all have a significant bearing on both power draw and water consumption.”

Ms Dahwa claimed, as a result of the power needed for the data centres, household bills in the area could go up “quite substantially”.

But Mr Hall refuted this, saying: “We understand why energy costs are front of mind but this development would not raise local residents’ household bills.

“Household energy bills are set by energy suppliers and regulated by Ofgem and are not affected by an individual commercial connection of this kind. If anything locating major demand in south Wales — a net energy exporting region with a large pipeline of new renewable generation — helps support investment in the grid and in the clean power that benefits the wider system.”

She also raised concerns about the impact on noise levels and a reduction in air quality in the area due to the generators that could be used in the data centre.

Air quality

In response Mr Hall pointed to assessments carried out during the planning process which determined air quality and noise levels would remain within acceptable levels.

Regarding the park and ride which would be replaced by the data centre she said: “[The data centre] would reduce staff being able to go to the hospital and patients being able to get to appointments.

“The concern is that this would reduce their wellbeing and health.”

On the same topic Dan Snipe, 29, an organiser for Acorn, said the park and ride was a “massive dependency for a lot of people for getting to and from Heath Hospital from Cardiff East” and said it was a “lifeline” for people in the areas of Llanrummney, Rummney, and Pentwyn.

He continued: “There’s a lot of people who heavily rely on this for essential use and, if it’s taken away, it’s going to be complete chaos for a lot of people’s lives.”

This point was echoed by Cai Parry-Jones MS, who represents Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf — the constituency the data centre would be built in if approved. He told the LDRS: “My constituents use the park and ride to get to Heath Hospital and it has become an essential part of access to healthcare for many people.

“I believe it’s wrong to take that access away from our residents and our communities, especially with so much new development in the city.”

In response Mr Hall said: “Cardiff Council brought the site forward for redevelopment due to the closure of the park and ride site due to its loss of funding and under-utilisation relative to the substantial cost of operating it.”

He continued: “We recognise that any change to current arrangements raises genuine concerns about access — particularly for disabled, elderly, and vulnerable patients — and about the people who work at the site.

“These are matters the health board is best placed to address as it brings forward alternative provision and we are committed to working constructively with the council, and with the health board, to deliver a long-term solution rather than the current temporary provision.

“The wider scheme also delivers new transport infrastructure — including a new bridge and link road between Pentwyn and Llanrumney with provision for pedestrians and cyclists — that improves connectivity across the area.”

Green space

The pair are also concerned about the damage the data centre would do to the green space next to the park and ride as well as the impact on the Rhymney Trail, a public right of way which runs through the site.

Ms Dahwa said: “Locally there’s obviously lots of protected species here — things like kingfishers, bats and otters.

“They would be dramatically affected.”

She claimed the data centre’s water use and the heat generated by the development would “effectively completely destroy all the wildlife in the area”.

Mr Hall told the LDRS: “We take the ecological impact of this site seriously and the proposals have been shaped throughout by detailed consultation with Natural Resources Wales, local ecologists, and specialist ecological consultants and informed a comprehensive package of habitat mitigation and compensation.

“The scheme is designed to retain the most valuable habitats and to deliver a net benefit for biodiversity overall.

“For protected species this includes a dedicated off-site dormouse habitat connected to retained woodland by three purpose-built dormouse bridges across the Rhymney River and supported by 50 nest boxes to further aid their habitat connectivity.”

In regard to the Rhymney Trail he said: “The trail will not be destroyed — on the contrary, the Rhymney Trail is retained and enhanced as part of the proposals. The riverside walk through the site will be kept and improved with better surfacing, clearer waymarking and signage, new amenity and seating points, with the whole site brought into active long-term management.”

They were concerned about flooding risk to the nearby homes, particularly in Ball Lane, during the construction period of the data centre.

Transport link

Two other Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf MSs have also come out against the plans.

Zaynub Akbar and Nicker Carter told the LDRS: “We understand why local residents are concerned about the proposed data centre development in Llanrumney.”

They continued: “The site currently operates Cardiff East’s Park and Ride, which provides an important transport link to the University Hospital of Wales for both staff and patients and its loss would have a significant impact on many people who rely on it.

“There are also legitimate concerns about the environmental impact of the development including its potential demands on energy and water resources, air quality implications, and the impact of the proposed ‘temporary’ gas-fired power generation facility that may be used over a five-year period.

“We have written to Cardiff Council to relay the strength of feeling locally and the potential impact on both the community and the environment to ensure residents’ voices are fully considered as part of any decision moving forward.”

In regard to the gas-fired power generation Mr Hall said: “A temporary on-site energy centre would provide power only as a bridge until the permanent grid connection is in place, after which the development will be all-electric and gas-free. The facility’s carbon performance will continue to improve as the Welsh and UK grid decarbonises — a transition this project is intended to support, not work against.”

The plans are under consideration by Cardiff Council.