Residents are in uproar over plans to build a £3billion data centre outside their tiny Kent village.
Locals in Southfleet received letters last week revealing that land currently used for fruit growing has been earmarked for the proposed Ebbsfleet AI Data Centre.
Sprawling across 145 acres, the data centre would be one of the largest in the UK. It is deemed to be of such national importance that the developers are going straight to the Government for permission instead of seeking approval from the local council.
Data centres, which house computers and data storage equipment used to run digital services, are considered critical to the UK’s ambitions to roll out artificial intelligence across the economy.
A construction boom in America has prompted a growing grassroots revolt from critics who argue the facilities are ugly, noisy and consume vast amounts of electricity and water for cooling.
With Britain still lagging far behind the US in the number of data centre developments, the public backlash has so far been comparatively muted.
But in Southfleet, a pretty village of fewer than 1,000 people, the anger was palpable when the Daily Mail visited earlier this week.
Anthony Tasselli, 75, who lives with his wife Alma next to the earmarked fields, said: ‘It’s disgusting. Why has it got to be built next to a village like this?
Sprawling across 145 acres, the data centre would be one of the largest in the UK. Pictured is one of the fields where the centre would be built
Southfleet is home to fewer than 1,000 people and boasts a beautiful 14th-century church
‘I think there are too many big people in on it – we all went to the parish council meeting on Monday and everybody there had the right hump.
‘The man from Dartford council was there but he just said, “they by-passed us”. It’s not democracy. It’s like living in Russia.’
Southfleet is a small, closely knit village with a pub, a primary school, and a village hall.
Alma, 71, fears the data centre will shatter its sense of quiet rural seclusion.
‘It’s incredible that they’ve picked a small little area like this to put such a centre – no one in the village wants it,’ she said.
Developer Clearstone Energy have written extensively about their data centre ideas on their website. They plan to start talking with villagers about it in the autumn and say they won’t be submitting their detailed plans until 2028.
They say the site will create around 700 jobs and feature a 300-yard buffer separating itself from Southfleet.
But Deborah Lawrence, 66, fears the impact it will have on the local energy grid and water supply.
‘I don’t mind data centres as long as they’re fully self-sufficient – if they had solar panels and a wind farm there then okay,’ she said.
‘But data centres use a lot of power and a lot of fresh potable water, and we’ve had issues with water here.’
The Ship Inn was busy setting tables for lunch when the Daily Mail visited on Monday.
Landlady Allisha Coulson said: ‘Everyone here knows about the data centre. Nobody wants it.
‘We were just about to buy a renovation project next to it down Warren Road when we heard about it. We’ll still going ahead with it but it will affect the re-sale value.
‘It’s going to take 160 acres of nice scenery. But my biggest objection is that the roads cannot take it – you can’t get along the A2 at 7am as it is.’
Existing data centres have faced complaints about the ‘constant hum’ generated by the computer equipment and cooling fans.
The centre of Southfleet, where residents are overwhelmingly opposed to the data centre plan
Anthony Tasselli, 75, who lives with his wife Alma next to the earmarked fields, said: ‘It’s disgusting. Why has it got to be built next to a village like this?’
A local retired teacher, who did not want to be identified, said: ‘As far as I understand the noise will be 24/7 and you can hear it a long way away. I’m very upset about it.
‘From what I understand it’s of national importance. We do need data centres because we are all using AI.
‘I just feel it’s not an appropriate place because it’s green belt land. There are a lot more sites in Dartford they could use.
‘The parish council hadn’t heard about it until Friday either. Someone from Dartford council was there at the meeting on Monday. It’s a big shock.’
Retired engineer Michael Kelly, 85, accused the developers of ‘short-circuiting any opposition’ by going via the Government rather than the local council.
Others suggested the major new development was a threat to the local ‘way of life’.
‘The issue is really about our way of life – we have a certain history in England and Southfleet is a beautiful area,’ said Gary McGill, 58, an inventor and consultant.
Simon Rothwell, project manager for the Ebbsfleet AI Data Centre Campus, said Clearstone Energy had yet to buy the site and the project was in its ‘early stages’.
‘We have only just got direction on July 1 that the project will be considered nationally significant,’ he said.
‘It was in recognition of the importance that the Government places on AI and on computing to deliver the next generation of AI.
‘We’re looking at another three years of planning. There’s not much information because we’re right at the beginning, but there will be plenty to engage with.’
He said Clearstone has other data centre projects on the go – ‘less than ten’, he said.
One of the fields that would house the futuristic data centre campus
The Ship Inn was busy setting tables for lunch when the Daily Mail visited on Monday. Landlady Allisha Coulson said: ‘Everyone here knows about the data centre. Nobody wants it’He said of the Ebbsfleet AI Data Centre Campus: ‘It will serve millions of people. There’s a national benefit but also a local benefit in terms of jobs.
‘AI has triggered a need to expand these facilities quickly if the UK is to be a leader in AI and to reap the benefits.’
He said there will be a 300 yard buffer between the actual development and Southfleet and that Clearstone will start visiting the area in August through to November to discuss the proposals with residents.
Mr Rothwell said the decision on whether it goes ahead will go to ministers.
He said of the data centre project: ‘These things are a surprise to people but the country is in the midst of trying to build out this next generation of infrastructure.
‘It’s always a surprise when someone says we are going to develop this near you and our job is to reassure people that their quality of life will not be impacted.
‘There will be a community benefit package with the development of the data centre that will include financial support for local projects.
‘People will buy space in these data centres to deliver services including government departments, data banks and technology companies.’
