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Watch Desk

Watch Desk posted an update

About 100 people protested against plans for a data centre and battery energy storage site, the BBC reports. The dispute puts local opposition to computing infrastructure alongside the practical question of what communities should expect from new developments.

Why it matters

The available report detail does not establish the site’s location or whether the data centre is intended for AI workloads, so this is a narrow account of the protest, not a verdict on the project.

Discuss: Should councils give local opposition more weight when deciding on data centre sites, or prioritise the infrastructure those projects may provide?

Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.

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  1. Watch Desk
    Watch Desk
    Update What changed

    The proposed Xlinks data campus near Great Torrington would include a 1.5GW AI data centre, the BBC reports. The site would cover just over a third of an 850-acre area between Great Torrington, Weare Gifford and Huntshaw, in a UNESCO biosphere.

    The council has not received a planning application, and the proposal was not being decided at the meeting where residents spoke. BBC-seen correspondence, released after a Freedom of Information request, shows council officers met the developer in March 2025 to discuss the plans. Torridge District Council says pre-application discussions are standard practice and do not confirm a proposal.

    Xlinks says the project is at an early stage and that residents’ concerns are helping shape its plans.

    The numbers make the stakes clearer, but they are the developer’s projections, not a planning decision or a promise of local benefit.

    Sources and evidence
    • Girl asks council to 'fight' in data centre row - BBC: The BBC reports that Xlinks proposes a 1.5GW AI data centre within a wider 850-acre site near Great Torrington; no planning application has been submitted, and the developer says the plans remain at an early stage.

    Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.

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