Summary
- Application PA/24/01450 proposes a 5,200 square metre data centre at Grey Eagle Street and Kelvin Street.
- Tower Hamlets raised objections covering design, conservation, local benefit, land use, and the limited activity created at street level.
- The recovered appeal places national support for digital infrastructure against local planning, heritage, housing, power, and employment priorities.
The UK government is expected to decide whether a proposed data centre at the former Truman Brewery can proceed after Tower Hamlets Council opposed the development and the case passed through a public inquiry.
Planning application PA/24/01450 covers demolition of existing buildings and construction of a five storey data centre at the corner of Grey Eagle Street and Kelvin Street. The proposed building would rise to 29 metres and provide approximately 5,200 square metres of floorspace.
The developer appealed on grounds of non determination in June 2025. Tower Hamlets’ Strategic Development Committee later resolved that it would have refused permission, citing the design, limited local benefit, effect on the Brick Lane and Fournier Street Conservation Area, and opposition to the proposed use of the site.
A public inquiry opened in October 2025 alongside linked applications elsewhere on the Truman Brewery estate. The secretary of state recovered the data centre decision, transferring the final determination from the planning inspector to ministers.
A modest electrical load with a large urban presence
The proposed facility is expected to require about 4MW, a fraction of the power sought by a hyperscale campus. Its central location is intended to support latency sensitive financial and trading workloads that derive value from proximity to the City of London and established fibre routes.
That economic function does not generate the daily street activity associated with offices, retail, workshops, or housing. Once commissioned, a secure technical facility can operate with a relatively small permanent workforce, even though the building occupies valuable urban land and contains substantial capital equipment.
The physical requirements of the use have also influenced the planning dispute. Data centres require controlled access, secure façades, plant space, acoustic treatment, loading arrangements, and limited openings, while conservation policy seeks active frontages and a building form compatible with the surrounding historic streets.
The committee report concluded that the proposed massing and largely inactive elevations would harm the conservation area. Opponents have also argued that the land could contribute more directly to housing, employment, cultural, or community uses.
The application forms part of a wider set of Truman Brewery proposals, but the data centre still has to be assessed on the characteristics of its own building and site. Benefits elsewhere on the estate do not automatically resolve questions over power, design, noise, land use, and local activity at Grey Eagle Street.
Two national priorities compete on one urban plot
The recovered decision brings digital infrastructure policy into direct contact with the pressure for housing and active employment space. The UK has designated data centres as critical national infrastructure, while London boroughs face acute demand for homes and intense scrutiny over the use of scarce development land.
Neither priority can be assessed in the abstract. Data centres support financial services, cloud platforms, communications, and other economic activity, yet their employment density is low once construction ends. Housing delivers a different public benefit but can create its own demand for electricity, transport, schools, and local services.
The proposed 4MW connection is modest in national terms, although it remains substantial within a dense urban network. The planning assessment must consider connection capacity, cooling, backup generation, fuel storage, noise, and whether any waste heat could be used nearby.
Latency complicates the suggestion that every facility can be moved to a distant industrial estate. Trading, interconnection, and network services can depend on physical proximity, while relocating the site may change the service being offered rather than simply moving the same building.
That technical need does not determine planning permission. The government must decide whether the facility’s infrastructure role and economic function outweigh the local objections over design, conservation, land use, and limited permanent employment.
The committee report sets out the application, policy framework, consultation responses, and reasons Tower Hamlets would have refused the scheme. Inquiry documents add evidence on operational need, heritage, design, and the wider brewery redevelopment.
Approval would not create an automatic route for every urban data centre, nor would refusal remove demand for low latency infrastructure close to the City. The decision will establish how ministers balance that demand when the proposed building conflicts with local expectations for one of east London’s most contested sites.
