M25 Data Centres Proposed Near High Barnet Potters Bar 2026

Key Points

• Proposed Locations: Plans are being prepared for a £1.5 billion data centre just south of Junction 24 on a 29-acre site north of High Barnet, alongside an 85-acre £3.9 billion proposal by US tech firm Equinix north of Junction 23.
• Project Scope: The Junction 24 facility spans 50,000 square feet, while the Junction 23 Hertfordshire Campus covers fields between South Mimms service station and Dame Alice Owen’s School.
• Local Authorities: The Junction 24 site straddles the boundary between Hertsmere Borough Council and the London Borough of Enfield, requiring planning approval from both authorities.
• Environmental Measures: Orbital Data Centres states its Junction 24 facility will use a closed-loop water cooling system and its own dedicated electricity grid connection, alongside preserving over half the site as open space with 640 new trees.
• Economic Benefits: Construction of the Junction 24 centre is expected to create 1,400 to 1,700 jobs over three years, delivering 170 operational jobs and an annual £30 million local economy boost.
• Planning Status: The western half of the Junction 24 site is classified as grey belt employment land in Hertsmere, whereas the eastern half in Enfield faces historical green belt protection concerns. National policy classifying data centres as critical national infrastructure adds further administrative weight.

Barnet (North London News) November 10, 2026 – As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, fields situated next to Junction 24 as well as Junction 23 alongside the M25 motorway are being actively proposed as sites for new data centre developments. Plans are currently being prepared for a second multi-million-pound data centre to be built north of High Barnet on green belt farmland beside the M25 motorway.

What Are the Specifications of the Proposed Junction 24 Data Centre?

As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, Orbital Data Centres is proposing to spend £1.5 billion constructing and fitting out a 50,000 square foot data centre just south of Junction 24 on a 29-acre site located between the motorway and The Ridgeway. As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, the proposed Junction 24 facility, situated to the south of Potters Bar, will be the first data centre built by Orbital Data Centres.

How Will Planning Permission Be Managed Across Multiple Local Authorities?

As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, approval would be needed from both Hertsmere Borough Council and Enfield Borough Council as the site straddles the boundary between the two local authorities. As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, Orbital purchased the site—described as dis-used farmland—from Enfield Borough Council earlier this year. Following public consultation on the plan during November, the company hopes to submit its planning application before the end of the year, with construction scheduled for completion by 2030 when the centre is due to be supplied with its own electricity grid connection and substation.

What Are the Environmental and Power Infrastructure Arrangements?

As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, at a public presentation of the plan, Orbital stated that the new centre would not draw power from the local electricity network, and it would be cooled with a closed-loop system which would circulate the same water and not draw on the local mains supply. As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, over half of the 29-acre site would remain as open space featuring wooded, wetland, and grassland environments around the data centre, supplemented by the addition of 640 new trees. Furthermore, five acres would be opened to the public with footpaths established through the site.

What Employment and Economic Impacts Are Expected?

As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, preparation of the site and construction of the two data centre buildings would provide between 1,400 and 1,700 jobs during the three years of construction. Once in operation, the centre would provide 170 jobs with approximately 85 additional positions in the wider area. As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, Orbital calculates that the new facility would provide a £30 million a year boost to the local economy, including £6.8 million in business rates of which £2.7 million a year could be retained for local services.

What Planning and Green Belt Complexities Does the Project Face?

As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, Orbital’s planning consultants acknowledged that having to seek planning permission from two separate authorities represents a administrative complication. The western half of the site is within Hertsmere; although previously designated as green belt, the site is now regarded as grey belt and has been allocated for employment use, which includes data centres.

However, as reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, a dispute exists regarding the status of the eastern half of the site within Enfield. Under the Enfield local plan, it was originally designated for employment use, but a planning inspector subsequently proposed that this designation should be removed because it would result “in a very high degree of harm” to green belt land around Junction 24. As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, in the view of Orbital’s consultants, the subsequent declaration by the government that data centres should be considered critical national infrastructure must now be taken into consideration, alongside the new procedure for redesignating green belt land as grey belt.

What Are the Details of the Larger Equinix Proposal Near Junction 23?

As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, outline planning permission for a much larger data centre near Junction 23—known as the Hertfordshire Campus—was granted in 2025, and US tech firm Equinix is now involved in detailed discussions with Hertsmere Borough Council over the required infrastructure. As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, the Junction 23 centre, which would cost £3.9 billion, would almost fill the fields between the South Mimms service station and Dame Alice Owen’s School at Potters Bar.

Background of the Particular Development

As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, these proposals emerge amid an escalating demand for high-capacity digital infrastructure and cloud data storage across the Southeast of England, driven by rapid technological advancements and artificial intelligence expansion. The M25 motorway corridor has increasingly become a prime target for tech infrastructure investments, prompting a tension between local green belt preservation policies and central government directives that prioritize data centres as critical national infrastructure. Local planning authorities, including Hertsmere Borough Council and the London Borough of Enfield, face complex policy landscapes as they navigate land designations, grey belt reclassifications, and regional employment needs.

Prediction on How This Development Can Affect the Particular Audience

As reported by Nick Jones of The Barnet Society, these developments will directly impact local residents, landowners, councillors, and school communities situated around High Barnet and Potters Bar. For local residents and communities near Junction 23 and Junction 24, the projects will transform portions of rural farmland and open space into high-security commercial installations, altering local traffic patterns during the multi-year construction phases—which promise up to 1,700 jobs at Junction 24 alone. While developers have proposed mitigation measures such as public footpaths, open wetland/woodland spaces, and closed-loop water systems, local audiences living near South Mimms and Potters Bar will experience a permanent shift in their local environment. Additionally, local authorities will face intense pressure to balance strict green belt protections against national critical infrastructure mandates, potentially establishing a precedent for future commercial developments along the M25 corridor.