Tuesday November 3rd 2026
Southside Data Centre
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
A proposed data centre on the Roxburghe Estate in the Scottish Borders has entered a formal public consultation period, with four community events planned over the coming months.
Sunlaws Development Company has submitted a Proposal of Application Notice to Scottish Borders Council for the Southside Data Centre, formally starting the statutory pre-application consultation process.
The developer intends to submit a full planning application in the first quarter of 2027, once environmental assessment work has been completed.
Four public information events will take place in Westruther and Longformacus during November, December and January.
The first will be held at Westruther Village Hall on Monday, November 30, from 12.30pm to 6.45pm.
A second event will take place at Longformacus Village Hall on Thursday, December 3, from 12.30pm to 7.30pm.
Further events are scheduled for Longformacus on Wednesday, January 13, 2027, from 12.30pm to 7.30pm, and Westruther on Thursday, January 14, from 1pm to 6.45pm.
The drop-in exhibitions will give residents the opportunity to view detailed information about the proposals, ask questions directly to the project team and submit written feedback.
The company said it had engaged with the local community since the earliest stages of the project, including public information days in Longformacus and Westruther in June 2026 which attracted more than 170 people.
Feedback from those events, alongside comments from the council and statutory consultees, has helped shape the updated design and the scope of environmental studies.
The November and December events will showcase the revised proposals and emerging findings from the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
The assessment will examine potential impacts on landscape and visual amenity, cultural heritage and archaeology, ecology and wildlife, hydrology and geology, noise and air quality.
The findings will be published in full alongside the eventual planning application.
Jaap Röell, managing director of Sunlaws Development Company, said submitting the notice marked an important milestone and the beginning of the formal public consultation process.
He said: “We have been talking to the community since the earliest concept stage, and the design has changed as a result.
“At events in November, December and January, people will be able to see the updated design and the emerging findings of the environmental assessment, and put their questions to our team.
“We want to hear from everyone, whether they support the proposal or have concerns, because their views will shape the final application.”
The company expects to submit its planning application in the first three months of 2027, after the consultation and environmental assessment are complete.
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