A £1.5bn data centre is planned on Green Belt land by M25 Junction 24 that Enfield Council sold in January. The inspector had struck it from the Local Plan.

A company is planning a data centre on 29 acres of Green Belt farmland between The Ridgeway and the M25, next to Junction 24. Enfield Council sold the land in January.

Orbital Data Centres has opened a consultation on its plans, which closes on Sunday 22 November. No planning application has been made yet. (Orbital Data Centres consultation website)

The same land was in the council’s draft Local Plan as a new industrial site. In June, the government inspector examining the plan told the council to delete it and return it to the Green Belt.

What is proposed

The consultation website describes:

  • two data centre buildings, about 50,000 square metres of floorspace in total
  • an electricity substation, a gatehouse, parking and service areas
  • a main entrance from The Ridgeway at the eastern end, and an emergency entrance at the western end
  • removal of the overhead power lines that cross the site
  • 640 new trees, with more than half the site left green
  • about 2 hectares (almost 5 acres) of that green space open to the public

The site covers 11.65 hectares. It lies partly in Enfield and partly in Hertsmere, so each council would decide on the part in its area.

Orbital says the buildings would use a closed-loop cooling system, which recirculates water rather than drawing it continuously from the mains. Power would come from the national grid through a new connection. Back-up generators would run only if the grid failed, and for short routine tests.

The company’s figures

Orbital puts these numbers on the scheme. They are the developer’s own estimates:

Measure Orbital’s figure
Construction and fit-out investment over £1.5 billion
Construction jobs a year while being built 1,400 to 1,700
Jobs on site once open about 170
Further jobs in the wider area around 85
Business rates a year an estimated £6.8 million
Of which kept by local councils around £2.7 million

The council sold it in January

Enfield Council agreed to sell the land, 27.6 acres at New Cottage Farm, at Cabinet on 14 January. The council leader, Cllr Ergin Erbil, confirmed the sale on 19 January after considering objections. (Enfield Council decision record, KD 5974)

The record of that decision says six objections came in after the sale was advertised. The Enfield Society and Enfield Roadwatch argued that selling before the inspector reported was premature.

The council replied that selling the land did not prejudge the Local Plan examination. Any development would still need planning permission, it said. The buyer’s name and the price were kept in a confidential appendix.

The record also shows:

  • the land is part of more than 2,000 acres of Enfield Chase that Middlesex County Council bought from the Duchy of Lancaster in 1937
  • covenants from then restrict its use to open space, recreation or farming
  • the sale needed the consent of the Secretary of State and the Duchy of Lancaster
  • the contract carries a 50-year “overage”, which pays the council more if the land goes to any use other than farming

Orbital’s website confirms it bought the site from the council in January 2026.

What the inspector said

The draft Local Plan allocated the land as site RUR.04, “Land east of Junction 24”, for industrial and logistics use.

In his letter of 15 June, inspector Steven Lee said the allocation was not soundly based. He said it would cause “a very high degree of harm to Green Belt purposes”. It would create “an isolated ‘hole’ in the Green Belt near to Junction 24 of the M25”. (Inspector’s post-hearing letter IN14, paragraphs 73 to 78)

He added that the area “retains a relatively rural character” despite the motorway. He also raised the effect on a large house the site wraps around, and doubts about safe access. He concluded that the exceptional circumstances needed to release the land had not been shown.

The council told the inspector on 29 June that it would prepare the changes he asked for, with public consultation “later in 2026”. (Enfield Council response to IN14)

Orbital’s website accepts the site is in the Green Belt. It says Hertsmere’s Green Belt study of April 2026 classed the Hertsmere part as “grey belt”, and that Hertsmere’s draft Local Plan identifies it for employment use, including possible data centres. It says nothing about the Enfield inspector’s findings.

What it means for you

This is the developer’s own consultation, not the council’s. Comments go to Orbital’s consultants, and Orbital says it will consider them before finalising the plans. When applications reach Enfield and Hertsmere, each council will run its own formal consultation.

You can comment by Sunday 22 November:

  • at a public exhibition, 2pm to 8pm on Monday 9 November at Wyllyotts Theatre and Cinema, Potters Bar, EN6 2HZ
  • at a public exhibition, 2pm to 8pm on Tuesday 10 November at West Lodge Park Hotel, Cockfosters Road, EN4 0PY
  • through the feedback form on the consultation website
  • by email to consultation@realestatecomms.com, or by phone on 07523 696293

We will report the applications when they are lodged. For other big schemes across the borough, see our Enfield planning news page.