North Devon protesters challenge Xlinks data campus as planning applications remain ahead

Xlinks’ proposed AI data campus near Torrington in North Devon drew about 200 protesters outside a Torridge District Council meeting in Bideford on 21 September, Silicon UK reported on 28 September. The demonstration brought renewed attention to a data centre and battery-storage proposal whose design and planning applications are still being developed.

The protest organiser, Devon Data Centre and BESS Action Group, said the turnout showed growing concern about the proposed 850-acre campus, according to Silicon UK. Protesters raised concerns about how the development would look in the countryside and what it could mean for tourism. Those are objections to a proposal, not findings about its eventual effects.

What Xlinks proposes near Alverdiscott

Xlinks describes the Devon data campus as a combination of AI computing, battery storage and potential community amenities near Alverdiscott. The land is between Great Torrington, Huntshaw and Weare Giffard, according to the developer’s project information and a June account by countryside charity CPRE Devon. Xlinks says the site brings together land from several owners.

The developer says the data centre, called Valeon, would provide 1.5GW of AI-optimised compute capacity. It says the data centre and battery system would connect to the National Grid at Alverdiscott substation. Xlinks presents the facilities as one campus, but says each is a separate project that could proceed independently of the other.

Why residents dispute the campus scale

CPRE Devon reported that Xlinks presented the proposal at a public meeting in Great Torrington Town Hall on 25 June. The charity’s account described an 850-acre site on farmland, with an early proposal featuring five buildings up to 40 metres high and a 96-acre battery system. Those dimensions describe the proposal as reported in June, not a settled final design.

Silicon UK reported that Xlinks considers descriptions of the early buildings as being as tall as Exeter Cathedral out of date. It said the company now plans to build on about one-third of the land and leave other areas open as nature habitats. The available project information does not establish the final buildings’ dimensions or the eventual use of every part of the site.

In the June account, CPRE Devon director Penny Mills challenged the project’s suitability for the landscape and questioned the developer’s estimate of permanent jobs. A Guardian letter published on 29 September carried a similar objection from Great Torrington resident Moira Brewer, who argued that noise, lighting and demand for energy and water would harm nearby residents. Neither account establishes what those impacts would be.

Xlinks says environmental assessments carried out during planning will inform measures to reduce impacts. Its project information describes proposed visual screening, woodland and biodiversity measures, public green space and ponds intended to reduce freshwater use. These are elements of the developer’s proposal; their effectiveness has not been established in the cited material.

Jobs forecast and the planning timetable

Xlinks projects 2,000 to 3,500 construction jobs and 650 to 1,200 permanent jobs once the campus is built. It also estimates an annual economic contribution of up to £3.6bn. The figures are the developer’s forecasts, rather than jobs or economic benefits already delivered. CPRE Devon has explicitly questioned the permanent-jobs estimate.

The timetable has changed since the project was first presented. CPRE Devon’s June account said Xlinks then intended to submit two applications in October. The developer’s current website instead says separate applications are planned for the new year, and that consultation has been extended. Public information days previously advertised for 14–17 July were postponed, with new dates still to be announced.

Residents can therefore assess a proposal that is still taking shape, rather than an approved campus. Xlinks says it is seeking feedback before finalising the design and submitting the two applications. The unresolved questions include the final layout and what environmental assessments will show about the effects raised by campaigners and nearby residents.