CAMPAIGNERS are demanding transparency as they warn of a “greengrab” of land to build massive data centres in Lanarkshire.

A new report from Action to Protect Rural Scotland (APRS) points to a number of sites linked to the firm DataVita, which already has a site in the heart of the AI growth zone in Lanarkshire, already in the pre-planning process.

The Lanarkshire zone was backed with £8 million of Westminster government cash in the hope of creating 3,400 jobs, but APRS has not only challenged those job claims but also raised concerns over such data centres’ huge energy consumption.

Secretary of the local Woodhall, Faskine & Palacecraig Conservation Group  Diane Davidson warned that such plans also threatened the greenbelt, as farmers came under huge pressure to cash in to developers.

She said: “This isn’t genuine economic growth: it is a ‘greengrab’ at the expense of productive farmland and essential wildlife corridors.”

APRS director Dr Kat Jones said: “This development will have a massive impact on our greenhouse emissions, energy use and put huge pressure on the grid.

“There is a national interest in transparency around exactly what the development will comprise and our research shows that there could be many individual applications linked with this development and even more related to the energy infrastructure they plan to build.

“With different elements of the development decided at local authority, Scottish government and UK government levels, we have written to all three to ask for co-ordination and transparency.”

A North Lanarkshire Council spokesman said: “Any application submitted would require to be assessed on its merits and against all relevant development plan policies and would be subject to the same assessment and consultation as any other planning application.”