Washington dad's fears for daughter’s ‘forever home’ over east Durham data centre plans
A Washington dad fears his daughter’s “forever home” could be affected by plans for a huge data centre which came to light after she exchanged contracts.
Ed Morrow, 68, from Washington, said his daughter exchanged on the property in July and the house has still not been built.
The home is at Gleeson Homes’ Lyons Edge development, close to where American developer Tract wants to build up to seven data centre buildings and an electricity substation connected to the National Grid.
Mr Morrow said: “My daughter’s just bought a house that isn’t built yet. And it’s right next to the planned data centre.
“We just seem to be in a situation where we can’t do anything about it.
“We can’t believe that it was just at the end of October that people began to find out anyway. She exchanged in July.”
The plans are still at an early stage and no planning application has yet been submitted to Durham County Council, but a consultation with nearby families and businesses has been held.
Mr Morrow said his daughter had paid for a home with a view, but was now worried about being able to sell the property in future.
He said: “She’s in a kind of a catch-22 situation, isn’t she? So she’s exchanged. How’s she going to sell it now?
“It was going to be their forever home. Now, in a sense, it may well have to be. They might not have any choice about that.”
Gleeson Homes said the information it had about the proposed data centre was the same as that available to the public.
A spokesperson said: “We understand there is currently no live planning application for the proposed data centre, and therefore the information available to us at this stage is the same as that available in the public domain.”
“Durham Technology Park is at an early design stage,” said a spokesperson for Tract.
“We recognise that a development of this scale raises important questions, including water, power, traffic, landscape, ecology, noise, and local opportunities.
“Our aim is to plan responsibly and ensure Murton, South Hetton and the wider East Durham area can share in the opportunities of the digital economy.”