Majority of Zeewolde city council votes for the arrival of data center Meta
The Zeewolde city council votes with a majority in favor of the zoning change that will enable the construction of the upcoming hyperscale data center of Facebook parent company Meta. 11 of the 19 councilors vote in favor of the zoning plan change.
This happened during the council meeting of the municipality. A majority of the council parties say they will vote for an amendment to the Trekkersveld 4 zoning plan, where Meta’s data center should be located. Coalition parties Leefbaar Zeewolde and the ChristenUnie vote against the zoning plan change, but the combined party of GroenLinks and PvdA, as well as D66 and VVD, agree with the change. In the roll call vote, proponents of the amendment won the majority with 11 votes. 8 councilors voted against.
There has been a lot of talk about the data center that Meta wants to build at Zeewolde, especially since it became known at the end of November that Meta is the party behind the data center. The decision on the arrival of the data center rests largely with the Zeewolde city council, because that council must agree to an amendment to the zoning plan for the area, which has been renamed Trekkersveld 4 business park. This used to be arable land.
One of the biggest obstacles has been the impact of the data center on nature. The environmental impact report, in which all adverse effects on the surrounding nature must be described, had to be rewritten several times because it was not complete. There were still many questions, especially in the field of the use of surface water and nitrogen emissions during construction. Questions are also being raised about the role that central government played in bringing in Meta in the field of energy supply.
The main argument of the province of Flevoland and the municipality of Zeewolde for the arrival of the data center is that this would bring highly skilled employment to the area, although this is an argument that is also criticized because employment is disappointing.
GroenLinks/PvdA ultimately votes in favor because Meta has promised to invest by offering free residual heat for the next twenty years, says party chair Yvonne van Bruggen. Meta would also do more than is legally required for biodiversity. In addition, the company contributes to the infrastructure and solar panels on the Trekkersveld, is Van Bruggen’s argument.
Coalition party ChristenUnie, good for three council members, votes against the change to the zoning plan because the arrival of a data center should not be at the expense of agricultural land. Party chairman Erik van de Beld also stated that residents were not properly included in the process, and that the usefulness and necessity of the data center for the municipality has not been proven.
By agreeing to the change in the zoning plan, in principle there is little in the way for Meta to build the data center on an area of 80 hectares near Zeewolde. However, the company must have all permits in order and it must still purchase part of the land from the Central Government Real Estate Agency that is needed for the area. Half of the intended area is owned by the government.
Update 22:56 – The council voted 11 in favor and 8 against the zoning plan amendment. The article has been adapted accordingly.