The upper house of the Dutch parliament has passed a resolution opposing a data centre planned by Facebook parent Meta in the Dutch city of Zeewolde. The house called on the state property company RVB to not sell the ground to the company before the government sets a new policy for data centres planning.
The resolution was presented by MP Niko Koffeman, from the Party for animals (Party voor de Dieren). The resolution noted the huge impact of the hyperscale data centre on energy provisions, arable land and scarce fresh water. Such a site in Zeewolde would be against the public interest and the recent government coalition agreement, which calls for tougher criteria for permitting data centres, it said.
A similar motion was introduced in the lower house a week ago by the Labour party (PvdA) member Esthter Ouwehand. This was rejected by a majority of the parliament, including the parties CDA, PVV, D66, CU, VVD, Denk and Van Haga.
According to a report from the paper NRC, the RVB is hesitating about the ground sale to Meta. It wants the company and municipality first to agree on a plan for using residual heat from the data centre and other sustainability criteria. The city council of Zeewolde recently approved the zoning application for the data centre.
