Outrage over ‘shameful’ AI data centre plans near Burford

A planning application for a new AI data centre in Shilford, on land and in barns which was previously used by an agricultural business, has been lodged with West Oxfordshire District Council.

The proposed data centre would be operated by Brakenwood Family Pension Trust and is being put forward by AIVS, an AI infrastructure firm focused on building centres in the UK.

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But it has received a huge number of objections from locals, with more than 180 people leaving comments on the planning application expressing their concerns.

Lily Crozier, of Carterton, said: “Building a data centre in Shilton not only damages the local wildlife and ecology, but adds to the destruction of human and animal habitats worldwide.

“The environmental damage data centres such as this pose far outweigh any minute positives, and this is not the stance West Oxfordshire should be taking. Shameful.”

The field where two existing barns are set to be demolished and rebuilt as five data centre warehouses (Image: Google)

Authorities like Shilton Parish Council and Thames Valley Police also voiced their opposition, and council departments like water, drainage and contamination said stringent conditions should be attached to any permission granted by the council.

The police’s ‘designing out crime officer’, Kevin Cox, issued a ‘holding objection’ to the plans on the grounds that there is insufficient information on the security measures protecting the data centre, as it would ‘store and process data linked to government communication networks’ and would likely be designated ‘critical national infrastructure’.

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The applicant responded to many of the commentors, emphasising that because the technology is ‘changing rapidly’, only an outline application has been submitted – leaving most of the application’s technical matters for a more ‘detailed design’ stage of the planning.

The facility itself is not expected to become operational until after 2032 and would take at least 12 months to build, with the applicant adding: “It would be inappropriate to commit the scheme to today’s server, cooling and energy technology when these systems are developing rapidly.”

They did say, however, that designs do not currently envision large volumes of water being required for cooling or abstraction, and instead ‘air-cooled, closed-loop or factory-contained systems are being explored’.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has advised that an additional 30 MW of dedicated electricity supply – routed separately to the normal grid that supplies homes and businesses – would be required, at an additional infrastructure cost of approximately £30million.

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Because the application is for ‘strategic digital infrastructure’ and the electrical supply required, the applicant requested the plans are considered for call-in by the Secretary of State.

The government’s powers to call-in an application are generally only used if planning issues ‘of more than local importance’ are involved.

If it is called in, a planning inspector will hear the plans at a public inquiry, and a decision on whether to grant or refuse permission will be published by the government.