Dutch Senate calls on government not to sell land to Facebook’s parent company Meta | Internet

The proposal, submitted by the Animals Party, states that the central government’s real estate agency – which manages the land – should wait for the sale of the land until the Dutch parliament clarifies the vision for spatial planning and data centres. in the coalition agreement It states that there must be new conditions for super data centers like Meta to be able to establish themselves in the Netherlands.

According to the Senate, the data center access is “contrary to the public interest and what is included in the coalition agreement on data centers and good spatial planning,” the proposal states. The Senate states that the Zeewolde data center is placing a significant strain on our energy supply, on fertile farmland and on our scarce fresh water supply.

Meta plans to build a massive data center on 166 hectares of former agricultural land. The company purchased about 80 hectares from the municipality of Zeewolde in April through an intermediary company. The other half must purchase the Meta from the Central Government Real Estate Agency, as it pertains to land owned by the Dutch government.

This will indeed impose additional conditions in the area of ​​sustainability, said Retired Secretary of State Nobbs, retired Home Secretary in an interview. Public Broadcasting Corporation NOS. Eventually, about 14 hectares will be built with five buildings measuring 400 by 70 meters.

Buying land is one of the last obstacles Mita faces after that last week The majority of Zeewold Council members voted to amend the site division plan. It happened after that a lot of fuss, including the occupation of the local town hall.

With the approval of Zeewolder City Council, Meta does not appear to be alarmed by the new rules regarding ultra-wideband data centers included in the coalition agreement. The Rutte government says stricter acceptance criteria should be applied to licensing of super-meters and that it will “tighten national oversight”. The coalition agreement has not yet stated what this would mean in practice. The Senate wants to delay the sale to Meta until it is more clearly described in an additional parliamentary vision.