Shelborn Drummond Ltd · Edinburgh data center, South Gyle, Edinburgh

Shelborn Drummond Ltd's appeal against Edinburgh's refusal of a data center of about 210 MW on the former Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters site at South Gyle cannot go forward until the developer produces a full Environmental Impact Assessment, the Scottish Government ruled in August 2026. City of Edinburgh Council councillors unanimously refused the hyperscale data center at 1 Redheughs Avenue, in the Edinburgh Park business district, in early February 2026, even though the council's planning officials had recommended approval in principle.

Shelborn had until August 20, 2026, to say whether it would submit that assessment; if it did not respond, the Scottish Government's Planning and Environmental Appeals Division would no longer have to consider the appeal.

The proposal, brought forward by landowner Shelborn Asset Management, was marketed as a "green" data center alongside wider works including a new public park, and the developer said it would be powered by renewable electricity and could supply waste heat to homes and offices at Edinburgh Park. Its peak electricity demand of 210 to 213 MW is equivalent to the combined annual household consumption of Glasgow and Edinburgh, and committee papers put projected annual emissions at about 200,000 tonnes, roughly 10% of the city's total.

Councillors found it failed the tests for a green data center. "On power from renewable energy sources, we've been told there is something in place but we haven't been given the figures on this, we haven't been able to hear from the power providers," said Green councillor Alys Mumford, adding that there had been no pre-engagement with Scottish Water and no real detail about cooling.

"So if this isn't a green data centre, which I believe it isn't, there are major issues with this proposal which can't be balanced out by that national consideration," Mumford said, also objecting that the plan would remove a quarter of the site's trees. "If you look at guidance on green data centres, who the hell knows?" said Conservative councillor Joanna Mowat.

The campaign group Action to Protect Rural Scotland argued that running the site's backup generators at scale would equal "100,000 idling cars-worth of diesel" being burned, and the council's report found potential significant noise effects on nearby homes and offices.

The Scottish Government's decision to require an assessment came as calls grew for a moratorium on data centers in Scotland, where 24 proposals are in various stages of planning. "We now need to see the Scottish Government make EIAs mandatory for all similar developments so that local authorities also have access to adequate information for their own decision making," said Kat Jones, director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland.

The appeal is decided by the Scottish Government's Planning and Environmental Appeals Division. That decision had been expected in September 2026; whether Shelborn met the August 20 deadline to confirm it would submit the assessment, and the appeal's outcome, had not been published as of September 29, 2026.