德文郡北部的一个议会在一年多前公众知晓之前，就支持了一项庞大的AI数据中心计划。这些文件由《卫报》记者桑德拉·拉维尔报道。
A council in north Devon backed a huge AI datacentre plan more than a year before the public knew about it. The documents were reported by Sandra Laville for the Guardian.
活动人士通过信息公开申请获得了这些文件。文件显示，开发商Xlinks自2025年3月起就一直在与托里奇区议会进行私下洽谈。该议会在2025年4月发出了一封支持函，当时尚未进行任何环境研究或公众咨询。
Campaigners got the papers through freedom of information requests. They show the developer, Xlinks, had been in private talks with Torridge district council since March 2025. The council sent a letter of support in April 2025, before any environmental study or public consultation.
该议会向《卫报》表示，此类早期洽谈是标准且保密的，并不意味着提案已获批准。
The council told the Guardian that such early talks are standard and confidential, and do not mean a proposal has been approved.
Xlinks计划在靠近大托林顿的约344公顷土地上建设一个1.5吉瓦的AI数据中心园区和一个1.8吉瓦的电池储能站，该地点位于联合国教科文组织生物圈保护区内。该公司称项目成本高达138亿英镑，并表示该场地将创造600至1200个永久工作岗位。
Xlinks plans a 1.5GW AI data campus and a 1.8GW battery storage site on about 344 hectares near Great Torrington, in a Unesco biosphere reserve. The company puts the cost at up to £13.8bn and says the site will create 600 to 1,200 permanent jobs.
当地活动人士指出，该项目涉及受保护的自然景观、农田流失、水资源使用，以及电池带来的噪音和火灾风险。德文郡北部在经历了创纪录炎热的夏季后，目前仍处于禁止使用水管浇水的禁令之下。
Local campaigners point to the protected countryside, the loss of farmland, water use, noise and fire risks from the batteries. North Devon is also still under a hosepipe ban after a record hot summer.
一份文件显示，在严重高温和干旱情况下，该场地每年可能使用约29亿升水。然而，Xlinks告诉《卫报》，该数字来自旧设计，园区将主要循环用水，并依靠雨水补充。
One document showed that in severe heat and drought, the site could use about 2.9bn litres of water a year. However, Xlinks told the Guardian that figure came from an old design, and that the campus will mainly reuse water and top up from rain.
德文郡数据中心和BESS行动小组的艾米丽·克拉克表示：“全国规模最大、成本最高的基础设施提案，为何几乎完全在秘密中进行？”
“How can the largest and most costly infrastructure proposal in the nation be conducted almost exclusively in secret?” said Emily Clark of the Devon Datacentre and BESS action group.
与此同时，由德文郡县议员谢丽尔·科特尔-亨金发起的一项全国请愿已获得超过36,000个签名。该请愿呼吁暂停在政府AI增长区之外建设数据中心和电池储能站。
Meanwhile, a national petition started by Devon county councillor Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin has passed 36,000 signatures. It calls for a pause on datacentres and battery sites outside the government’s AI growth zones.
政府于9月17日拒绝了这一提议。政府表示，此类项目已经面临规划和环境审查，且到2030年需要电池储能来净化电网。
The government rejected the idea on 17 September. It said such projects already face planning and environmental checks, and that battery storage is needed to clean up the power grid by 2030.
Xlinks表示，在设计园区时，他们会充分考虑当地居民和自然环境的需求。据议会称，原定于7月举行的公众咨询已被推迟至今年晚些时候。
Xlinks said it will design the campus with care for local people and nature. A public consultation planned for July has been put back to later this year, the council said.
德文郡的这场抗争紧随美国一波数据中心抗议浪潮之后，今年前三个月，美国当地团体已阻止了价值1300亿美元的项目。
The fight in Devon follows a wave of datacentre protests in the US, where local groups blocked $130bn of projects in the first three months of this year.