Re-Imagine Slough: A Viva Slough Column by Vineet Vijh
Microsoft came to Langley on Saturday to talk about their proposed Data Centre
What they got was an ambush.
They had planned a familiar consultation format. Display boards covered noise, water, electricity, biodiversity, landscaping and community benefits. Residents were expected to wander around, talk one-to-one with experts and ask questions.
The Campaign group Slough Against Data Centres had a different idea. The had mobilised beforehand, and between 50 and 100 people turned up, many with placards.
They had no intention of quietly circulating around display boards. They wanted Microsoft to stand in front of everyone and answer questions publicly.
After some initial resistance, Microsoft agreed. Suddenly the consultation became something rather more interesting: Microsoft versus the room.
At first, the Microsoft team looked distinctly uncomfortable. Stone faces, folded arms and expressions suggesting concern.
Over the next couple of hours, experts fielded questions on noise, energy, water, generators, heat and planning. One lady from Microsoft responsible for Environmental Assessments was particularly impressive and did much to calm the room.
The protestors were well prepared, they had statistics, reports and technical arguments on almost every subject imaginable. At times they seemed capable of talking down the experts.
There was one wonderfully comic moment during a discussion about noise.
Someone asked the acoustic expert: at what level does noise become a health hazard?
The expert began working through averages, maximums and technical standards. Meanwhile, somebody at the back whipped out his phone and, within seconds, produced an answer.
I do not know whether it came from Google, Gemini or ChatGPT, but there was something deliciously ironic about artificial intelligence being used to strengthen an argument against artificial intelligence and data centres.
I recently saw a meme showing robots protesting AI. Perhaps that is the future. Much more efficient.
Behind the humour, however, Saturday carried a serious message.
For too long, I think parts of the data centre industry have been sitting in something of an ivory tower. They need to wake up.
There is a danger in believing that because you have satisfied the planners, commissioned environmental studies, paid Section 106 contributions and met regulatory requirements, you have done enough.
You have not.
The number of people who feel this strongly may be relatively small, but the depth of feeling is intense. The industry ignores it at its peril.
A woman challenged an expert by referring to World Health Organization research and effectively saying: “WHO says this. Are you saying they are wrong?”
It is a powerful debating technique, but not necessarily a useful way to reach the truth.
It is remarkably easy to find a study, statistic or expert opinion supporting almost any position. One side produces research suggesting serious risk, while the other finds research saying the risk is negligible.
This cannot become a competition to see who arrives with the biggest pile of reports. Slough needs independent, measured evidence, not research selected to reinforce positions already decided upon.
Another argument came up repeatedly: why Slough? We already have so many data centres, so why put the next one here?
My view is that Slough should embrace the opportunity.
We already have the front seat with the biggest concentrations of data centres anywhere. They are not going away, and neither is AI.
Instead of simply fighting them, Slough could become the model for how data centres should be developed responsibly.
That means going beyond whatever the planners require: more transparency, better community engagement, real investment in local people, jobs, skills, education and visible benefits for the neighbourhoods hosting this infrastructure.
I was encouraged to see several young people, in their early 20s, arguing their case confidently and articulately. It wasrefreshing to see them engaging seriously in the future of their town.
Fortunately, the room did not remain hostile throughout; once answers became more direct, the mood began to change noticeably.
By the end, the committed opponents were not converted, but the conversation had become more civilised.
Microsoft may eventually get its data centre. But getting planning permission and carrying the community with you are two very different things.
Slough now has the chance to lead not by stopping the future, but by showing how the future should be built.