Google Waltham Cross datacenter draws noise and lighting complaints
Residents challenged Google over consultation, noise, lighting and water use at its Waltham Cross datacenter north of London.
By Dominic Okoye · Staff Writer
· 3 min read
Google faced residents this week over the Google Waltham Cross datacenter, its first UK-owned and operated facility, after neighbors complained about consultation, noise, lighting and environmental impact. The 33-acre site north of the M25 has been opened officially and is expected to reach up to 77 MW of IT capacity when full, though Google said it is currently well below that level.
The meeting took place Wednesday evening at Broxbourne Council Offices, where Google had invited nearby residents to meet the team running the facility. According to The Register, the event became tense as residents challenged both Google and Broxbourne Borough Council over how the project had been handled before and during construction.
Google bought the land in 2020 for £33 million, after an earlier datacenter planning application had been filed in 2018. The final reserved-matters application was approved on November 30, 2023. Google and the council said the required process was followed, while residents at the meeting argued that local communication had been weak. One council representative said only 12 people attended a previous public meeting on the Waltham Cross facility, according to The Register.
What are residents worried about at the Google Waltham Cross datacenter?
Residents raised several operational concerns: a hum from the site, lights visible from homes at night, water use, heat, electromagnetic emissions and the effect on house prices. Datacenter noise complaints are often tied to cooling systems, though the Waltham Cross meeting did not establish a specific technical cause for the hum residents described.
Dan Dale, Google’s server operations site manager, said the company was working on lighting changes so lights would run only when needed and when access was required. He also said Google had tried to angle lighting downward at the site and expected conditions to improve.
On environmental questions, Dale said the site is monitored to comply with environmental permits and to meet commitments made at the start of the project. The meeting also included discussion of an environmental impact study, which Google said had been submitted as part of the planning process.
Water use drew particular attention because parts of southern, central and eastern England have been close to drought conditions this summer. Google’s datacenter team said the facility uses a closed-loop chiller system, with water circulating through pipes and chilled by refrigerant machines rather than being continuously replenished. Tihomir Lazic, DCOps site manager, said the system does not add water into the loop.
Dale said water consumption at the site is mainly associated with office uses and estimated it at about 60 cubic meters a month, roughly equivalent to five houses. In a later statement to The Register, Google said the facility uses air-based cooling and that water use is largely limited to domestic uses such as toilets and showers, along with fire protection systems.
What Google said about consultation and power
A Google spokesperson told The Register that public consultation occurred before Broxbourne Council granted planning permission and that engagement with nearby residents and the local authority continued during construction. The company said it was committed to ongoing dialogue with residents and community leaders.
Google also pointed to an agreement with Shell intended to support grid stability and add clean power to the UK grid. The company said its UK operations are projected to run at or near 95% carbon-free energy in 2026. It did not disclose current power draw at Waltham Cross or a timeline for reaching the site’s full 77 MW IT capacity.
Broxbourne Borough Council had not responded to The Register’s request for comment by publication. Google’s promise of further meetings gives residents another forum, but the Waltham Cross dispute shows how datacenter expansion is becoming a local political issue as cloud and AI infrastructure moves closer to homes.
This story draws on original reporting from The Register.
