Plans for a new data centre in Irlam have faced backlash from the Your Party group in Salford.
The Halo West site received approval from Salford City Council last year, but now Your Party in Salford has started a petition, raising concerns about the environmental impact on the area.
In a statement released in October, John Warmisham said in a Your Party Salford statement: “Salford is a city with real challenges. Our residents are struggling with the cost of living, our public services are under pressure, and we need investment that genuinely benefits local people.
“We must ask serious questions about whether massive data centres, with their enormous demands for electricity and water, are the right priority for our city.”
They are calling for a moratorium on data centres and a referendum on Halo West.
“Our city should be built around the needs of its residents, not the demands of big technology companies. We need investment that creates lasting benefits for our communities, protects our environment and puts people before corporate profit”, they continued.
The site was formerly used as a recycling site but now Peel Waters, part of the Peel Group, plans to use the land to build a data centre. The proposal consists of 1,120sqm of office space, a 5,193sqm data centre, and 5,995sqm of plant area.
Plans also indicate 17 car parking spaces, including three disabled bays. The centre will bring 20 full-time jobs to the area when operational, according to the Social Value Strategy outlined in the plans.
During the planning stage, prior to the site’s approval, 58 properties in the area were notified, however, just two responses were received. An objection and a duplicate response from the same address, according to the panel report.
Kirsty Downie, the Your Party member who started the petition and previously ran for election in the Barton and Winton ward, speaking to Salford Now said: “There was no democratic process, no conversation to include residents in this, which is why we’ve made a request to the mayor regarding a moratorium on further data centres.
“We’re concerned about the water from the Manchester Ship Canal and what it will cause, what problems it could cause to our local habitats.
“Our three main concerns is the electricity bills, water consumption, but also that these things need to be properly discussed in their communities and not quietly put through.”
Salford Now spoke to Dr Taha Mansouri Senior Lecturer of AI at the University of Salford about the concerns around data centres.
Dr Mansouri said, there are “many positive impacts we can expect” but there is also some “serious environmental side affects.”
“We need to use significant water, and we should be careful of the land that we occupy. It has been proved that they (the data centres) are widely participating in Global warning.
“Even a small search they are participating in a very negative way in global warning because of the servers they keep producing heat and consuming energy. We should be careful of the electricity consumption and the ecological footprint in a wider term.”
A spokesperson from Salford City Council said: “Planning permission was granted in July 2025 for the demolition of existing structures, land remediation and redevelopment of the site for an employment scheme, including a data centre and associated offices, infrastructure and facilities.
“The planning permission (reference PA/2024/1810) remains valid and can be implemented, subject to the discharge of relevant planning conditions.”
A spokesperson for Peel told Salford now: “Peel Waters secured planning permission to redevelop the vacant six-acre brownfield site in July 2024 for light industrial units, the planning application for a data centre on the site was submitted subsequently by ‘Digital Land & Development’ and received unanimous approval from Salford City Council’s planning committee in March 2025.
“Peel Waters have not been contacted by the representative who started this petition.”
