More than 100 people protested in Torrington against a proposed AI data centre and battery storage complex, planned for 850 acres of Devon countryside. The £13bn scheme would bring substantial computing infrastructure to the area, but its scale has put local land use, water and promised jobs in sharp focus.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
Energy company Xlinks plans 40-metre-high data centre buildings and a battery energy storage system on fields above the town. DevonLive reports that planning applications are expected in the coming months, with Torridge District Council to decide them.
At the protest, residents and local campaigners objected to the loss of farmland and raised concerns about the landscape, wildlife, water use and fire risks. Xlinks says the development would be a long-term anchor for digital infrastructure in the South West and create between 650 and 1,200 jobs.
Why it matters
This is a concrete local dispute over the physical footprint of AI infrastructure: who gains from new computing capacity, and who bears the costs of putting it somewhere. The jobs are a promise from the developer; the project is still awaiting planning applications, so neither the employment nor the environmental effects are settled.
Devon County Council chairman Julian Brazil said data centres use more than six million litres of water a day and asked where that water would come from. That is his claim at the protest, not a verified usage figure for this particular proposal. It sharpens the question for planners: what evidence should a developer have to provide about water, energy and local impact before a project of this scale can proceed?
Our read
An AI data centre is not an abstract cloud floating above the countryside. It needs land, power and water, and those demands belong in the planning debate alongside the promised jobs. The useful next step is not to treat either side’s headline figures as the verdict: residents and councillors need project-specific evidence, and Xlinks needs to show how its plans address the concerns raised.
What to watch
- When Xlinks submits its planning applications and what assessments they include.
- How Torridge District Council evaluates water supply, energy needs and environmental effects.
- Whether the promised 650 to 1,200 jobs are supported by detail on timing and local employment.
Discussion spark: Should a project promising hundreds of jobs get the benefit of the doubt on AI infrastructure needs, or should developers have to prove its local costs are acceptable before planning approval?
Sources and evidence
- 'We will win': Devon residents unite to fight 40m-tall AI data centre – Devon Live (16 October 2026, 15:12 UTC)
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