A PETITION calling for the suspension of the creation of AI data centres outside of ‘AI Growth Zones’ has received more than 25,000 signatures.

The petition, launched by Cllr Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin, a Liberal Democrat councillor on Torridge District Council, aims to touch the zeitgeist of concern about the environmental and social impact of vast proposals of a similar nature to that being proposed in Devon.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that British ‘renewable-energy’ organisation Xlinks plans to construct an AI data centre on land between Great Torrington, Huntshaw and Weare Giffard - less than 30 miles from Bude.

The £13-billion plans would see the construction of what the organisation is calling the ‘Devon data campus’, a space which would house GPUs, TPUs, and high-performance processors, with immense data storage and processing capabilities which are used to process the demands of AI workloads from across the world.

If completed, the site would be one of the largest data centres across Europe.

Cllr Cottle-Hunkin’s petition is calling for an immediate moratorium, also known as a temporary pause, on planning approvals for battery energy storage systems and data centres outside of the designated AI growth zones in addition to mandatory rural impact assessments conducted at a local level and a mandatory comprehensive investigation into the financing behind all the present proposals.

The petition explains that ‘We believe robust evaluation is needed as to: the cost-benefit analysis of each BESS/Data Centre; and (ii) all financing, including non-UK-based funds. Proposals outside AI Growth Zones can be highly problematic, because they may seek to evade regulation and government scrutiny. Rural areas are especially vulnerable’

Having gained immediate attention, achieving 4,000 signatures in its first day, the petition has now surpassed 25,000 signatures, with the councillor announcing that it has received a signature in every single constituency across the country.