Council backed Devon AI datacentre before it went public, Guardian reports
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.
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.
The council told the Guardian that such early talks are standard and confidential, and do not mean a proposal has been approved.
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.
Local campaigners point to the protected countryside, the...
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