Rachael Revesz

Come join us for the next one on 3 March at 7pm! #litter #edinburgh

Emirates might start flying a Boeing 777 twice a day from Glasgow Airport because... they want fresh lobster. The CEO goes unchallenged. There's a massive gulf between 'business' journalism and the reality of a climate breakdown. @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2583389...

Ah thanks! But your mention of the Apatura site was what put the whole issue on my radar!

An Edinburg Council committee has REFUSED planning application in principle to Shelborn for its hyperscale AI data centre. The convener said it would 'drive a coach and horses' through local planning policy. This will also have huge ramifications for Apatura's plans nearby. #ai #datacentre

A monochrome illustration of a plan for a building set behind trees. Text over reads: 'Just 39 jobs expected at 'green' data centre planned for South Gyle. Councillors to vote on Wednesday & could set precedent for Scotland. Environmental questions raised. Developer declines to comment. Guest post by Rachael Revesz, freelance journalist and campaigner'

On Wednesday, Edinburgh councillors will vote on plans for a new AI data centre which could set a precedent for Scotland. It’s controversial and many questions remain unanswered. A guest post by @rachaelrevesz.bsky.social: www.edinburghminute.com/an-open-lett...

#edinburgh #scotland

@parents4futurescot.bsky.social Hello! I sent you a couple emails about a very timely news story / issue. Could you please get back to me this week if you can? Many thanks.

I'm always willing to engage. But we are all 'tired and angry' when news like this crops up. Please direct that frustration to the people who are paid to change policy, or to the drivers who, as you say, 'make mistakes'. Thanks.

I appreciate this isn't the forum for a proper conversation. But volunteers do a *lot* of work on rolling out and enforcing 20MPH speed limits, making sure people have time to cross the road, that wheelchairs have dropped kerbs, banning pavement parking - etc - these all have massive impact.

Data Centre Events - Action to Protect Rural Scotland We are organising a series of events to help communities who have data centres planned near them to learn about the impacts of data centres, Scottish and UK policy around data centers, the planning sy...

I'll be moderating a panel about AI data centres in Scotland on 5 March at St Augustine Church. Interested in hearing from experts, want to ask questions or raise concerns? Come along! aprs.scot/event/data-c... #ai #datacentres

May I also point out, we (LS) volunteers attended the protest when a woman was injured at Ashley Terrace, and when a man was killed in the Cowgate, we pushed hard for the traffic curfew. We've done many things like that. This woman was injured by a driver, not us. Your comments are frankly shameful.

'People keep getting killed... because groups like yours...' That's an extremely serious accusation. Hopefully you understand what a false equivalency is. Even if we channeled 100% of our volunteer efforts into supporting floating bus stops, it would have done zero to prevent this woman's injury.

I think it's strange that a person drives a car into a bus stop and your reaction is to target a group of volunteers that campaigns for road safety.

Leithers, please come join us on Sat 7 February at 11am!

And a lot more besides. We care deeply about pedestrian safety. You are looking in the wrong direction for someone to blame.

Hey Simon, I'm involved with LS in Edinburgh. I live around the corner from this stop. It's fascinating to me why, when someone is injured, you attack us, a group of volunteers. We organise events and do deputations and lobby policy makers and write newsletters and do walkabouts with councillors.

Defend the Ocean From Offshore Drilling The Trump administration just released a horrific five-year plan for offshore oil leasing, setting the stage to auction off 1.27 billion acres of public waters in the United States. More drilling will...

The Trump administration just released a five-year plan for offshore oil leasing, setting the stage to auction off 1+ billion acres of public waters in the United States. More drilling will only push imperiled wildlife closer to extinction. Take action. act.biologicaldiversity.org/OvxlEQSpoEGj...

Bus journey times being 'killed by congestion' in cities The industry warns that traffic jams are slowing average bus speeds and are calling for more priority measures for buses.

"[Congestion] can be addressed by local authorities and operators working together on priority measures which could include bus lanes, bus gates and traffic light priority."
i.e NOT reducing the number of bus stops, as one fairly recent Herald article was supposing...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

AI data centres - Drax Global

Drax power station wants to build an AI data centre... it already burns 250-year-old trees from Canada to generate just 5% of our energy in the UK... and gets around £470m subsidies every year from our government. #datacentre #ai www.drax.com/about-us/our...

Housing for whom? The battle over student accommodation in the Capital The rise of private student halls in 'the UK's second smartest city'

This article on student housing by the Edinburgh Inquirer does not mention these words once: 'profit', 'return', 'planning policy', 'pension fund(s)'.
www.edinburghinquirer.co.uk/p/housing-fo...

Council to review if data centre requires environmental assessment Two data centres which will use the same energy as all the houses in Edinburgh and Glasgow twice over, are going through the planning process. Now Edinburgh Council says it will review its decision to...

My latest for the Edinburgh Reporter. Both Apatura and Shelborn - two developers - may have to submit environmental assessments for their proposed AI data centres. But Shelborn is already awaiting planning permission - and the timeline won't be extended.
theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2025/12/coun...

North Sea exploration ban senseless amid looming gas supply threat in Scotland The Labour Government sparked fury in the North Sea with its Budget as it confirmed plans for a move that will make the UK increasingly reliant on…

20% of the Rosebank oil field - and $1bn worth of assets in the north sea - are owned by an Israeli company. Another good reason for this government to scrap Rosebank.
www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...

@neweconomybrief.bsky.social finds one way to mitigate any AI-induced financial crisis - stop rushing to grant planning to every developer wanting to get rich and build a data centre. #overcapacity #ai #datacentre

Why AI and data centres pose massive threat to Scotland's countryside Data centres that use vast amounts of electricity are causing problems for efforts to decarbonise the economy and are a new source of pressure on the natural world

Action to Protect Rural Scotland is rightly baffled as to why AI data centres don't have to submit environmental impact assessments. Sign their petition! @aprscotland.bsky.social
www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

Petition launched to demand EIAs on Data Centres - Action to Protect Rural Scotland Today APRS, Scotland's Countryside Charity, launched a petition calling on the Scottish Government to make Environmental Impact Assessments compulsory for data centres and to issue strict standards fo...

Why does it take a charity petition to wake us up to the fact that huge AI data centres should be required to submit environmental impact assessments to get planning permission? Sign the petition here, and email your MP! aprs.scot/press-releas...

Decision time: Tell Keir to #StopRosebank This is the moment we've been building towards: it's final decision time for the UK Government. Equinor is trying to get the new Rosebank oil field re-approved. It's up to us all to convince the Gover...

Rosebank oil field is still on the table, please tell them to shove it off. actionnetwork.org/forms/the-go...

Cardiff To Be First UK City To Introduce Extra Parking Fees For SUVs Cardiff tackles 'carspreading'.

Would be good to see Scotland's cities do the same.

www.forbes.com/sites/carlto...

Green to Grey – How Europe is squandering the little nature it has left Green to Grey is a pioneering collaboration between journalists and scientists counting every green space lost in Europe between January 2018 and December 2023.

greentogrey.eu - This is a great report, and reminds me of a little (quite large) area of land by the canal that Apatura wants to build on to build an AI data centre...

@europeanpowell.bsky.social you may be interested in my piece, thanks for your work.

Why I’m not buying energy-hungry AI data centres’ claims to be green Rachael Revesz finds the temperature a little too warm at a public meeting to discuss a proposed data centre in Edinburgh, and urges people to come to the next one

A company called Apatura wants to build a handful of AI data centres across the central belt, the first next to Heriott Watt. It claims it's doing consumers a favour by zapping up 200MW of electricity and an Olympic swimming pool+ worth of water. www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

@dastonsnp.bsky.social @cllrbenparker.bsky.social @edinreporter.bsky.social @edinburghleisure.bsky.social @edinburghtrams.bsky.social @lothianbuses.bsky.social