Microsoft's leeds data campus faces 7,000-signature petition

Microsoft's plan to build a hyperscale AI data centre campus on the site of a decommissioned Leeds power station is drawing sustained opposition, with a resident-led petition growing steadily as the project edges toward final approval.

The scheme covers roughly 500,000 sq ft across three data centre buildings and supporting infrastructure, with the core halls totalling around 424,000 sq ft on a 65-acre site beside the River Aire.

Leeds City Council's planning committee unanimously granted conditional consent in April, but the decision still needs formal sign-off from Chief Planning Officer Martin Elliot before construction can proceed.

Harworth Group, which bought the former Skelton Grange power station site for £3 million in 2014, sold the land to Microsoft in a deal worth around £107 million.

A group calling itself No Leeds Datacentres, made up of around 100 local residents, launched a petition arguing the public wasn't given adequate opportunity to object before the council's April approval, when the planning portal had logged only two objections.

Since the campaign began raising awareness, more than 500 formal objections have been filed and petition signatures have climbed into the thousands.

Campaigners say there is still time to block the final sign-off, and have signalled they'd consider a legal challenge if approval goes ahead regardless.

The petition's central claim is that cooling the site's AI chips will require large volumes of water whenever outside temperatures pass 29C, a threshold campaigners argue is becoming more frequent due to climate change.

Beyond water, opponents point to the facility's electricity demand landing in a market already under strain: UK households are paying an average of more than £2,500 a year, partly a result of reduced gas imports following disruptions to Russian supply, and campaigners argue added industrial demand could push prices further.