What happened
A campaign group in north Devon, England, is opposing a proposal by the company Xlinks to construct a 1.5GW AI datacentre and a 1.8GW battery energy storage system (BESS) on 344 hectares of land within a Unesco biosphere reserve. According to The Guardian, local activists have utilized Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to uncover that the developer and local council officials engaged in confidential discussions starting in March 2025, with the council issuing a letter of 'in-principle support' in April 2025, over a year before the project was made public.
The proposed Xlinks campus in Great Torrington would include five buildings ranging from 50 to 130 feet in height, with the two largest structures covering approximately 22 acres each. The site would also house 1,720 containerized battery units, which would represent a significant increase in scale compared to existing UK battery storage facilities.
FoI disclosures revealed that Torridge district council provided 'in-principle' guidance to Xlinks long before public notification. The council maintains that this pre-application process is standard, confidential, and does not constitute formal approval. However, residents and local representatives have expressed frustration over the perceived secrecy, leading to protests and the refusal of some parish councils to engage in closed-door meetings with the developer's PR representatives.
Xlinks has stated that the project represents a £13.8 billion investment, promising between 600 and 1,200 jobs. The company claims it will exceed legal biodiversity requirements by 10% and that the campus will be designed to minimize visual impact. Regarding water usage, Xlinks noted that the initial estimates cited in FoI documents were based on a design that has since been superseded.
Source details: theguardian.com ↗
Why it matters
The conflict highlights the growing friction between the rapid expansion of AI-related infrastructure and local environmental and community interests. As AI models require massive computational power, the demand for hyperscale datacentres is surging, often placing industrial-scale projects in rural or protected areas. This case underscores the tension regarding regulatory oversight, as campaigners argue that the lack of a national strategy for locating such facilities creates a 'regulatory wild west' that leaves communities vulnerable to large-scale land use changes without adequate public consultation.
The case reflects a broader national debate in the UK regarding the balance between meeting clean energy goals and preserving rural landscapes. While the government identifies battery storage as essential for balancing wind and solar power, the lack of a definitive national spatial plan for these facilities has left local planning authorities to manage the burden of large-scale industrialization.
The involvement of international activists, such as those from the US-based 'Not in My Valley' group, indicates that local resistance to AI infrastructure is becoming a coordinated, global movement. This suggests that developers of hyperscale AI projects may face increasing difficulty in securing community 'social license' to operate, particularly when projects are perceived to be fast-tracked or shielded from public scrutiny.
Interactive Mechanism: How It Actually Works
Explore the underlying technology behind this development interactively.
What did neural scaling law research (e.g. Kaplan et al., 2020) observe?
What to watch next
The project's progression through the formal planning application process remains the primary point of contention. Observers should monitor whether the UK government implements stricter spatial planning policies for AI infrastructure, as requested by local officials who are calling for a pause on projects outside designated 'AI growth zones.' Additionally, the outcome of the ongoing environmental impact assessment and the developer's ability to address concerns regarding water consumption—which internal documents suggested could reach 2.9 billion liters annually under extreme conditions—will be critical factors in the project's viability.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has commissioned a strategic spatial energy plan, which may eventually provide clearer guidelines for where such infrastructure can be located. Whether this plan arrives in time to influence the Xlinks proposal or similar projects remains unknown.
Public consultation sessions, which were postponed from July, are expected to be the next major milestone. The transparency and data provided by Xlinks during these sessions will be a key indicator of whether the company can mitigate the current level of community hostility.