A world-leading environmental organisation has confirmed that a rare and cherished eco-designation could be at risk if plans for a massive data centre in it are progressed.
UNESCO has said that if prospective plans for what would be the UK’s largest data centre are built in the North Devon Biosphere, that would have to be factored into any decision to allow the area to maintain its classification.
The North Devon Biosphere is one of just seven in the UK, which are considered by UNESCO to be “at the forefront of the UK’s work to mitigate the effects of climate change, limit biodiversity loss and promote sustainable ways of living”.
A spokesperson for the organisation said: “A development of this scale, in the Transition Zone set aside for sustainable activity, is the kind of change that the UK MAB National Committee, UNESCO's national counterpart, would factor into its ongoing reporting to the MAB Secretariat.
“While UNESCO won't be submitting a formal comment on this proposal, the question of whether a data centre’s compatibility with the site's sustainable-development mandate is one that will feed directly into how North Devon's continued designation is assessed.”
The spokesperson added that Biosphere reserves such as North Devon undergo a periodic review every 10 years against the ‘Man and Biosphere’ programme’s internationally-agreed criteria.
While UNESCO said it does not rule on planning applications, and that the Biosphere designation did not carry the legal power to approve or block a development, this “does not mean UNESCO has no stake in it”.
“Biosphere Reserve status isn't a one-off badge,” the spokesperson added.
“Sites are expected to keep demonstrating, in practice, that they deliver on the conservation, sustainable-development and support functions the designation is built on.”
The potential threat to the Biosphere status was raised this month at the full council session at Devon County Council.
Councillor Graham Bell (Liberal Democrat, Braunton Rural) asked whether UNESCO would be “thinking carefully” about renewing the status if the data centre went ahead.
Fellow member, Councillor Cheryl Cottle Hunkin (Liberal Democrat, Torrington Rural), the cabinet member for rural affairs, and whose division includes the location for the potential data centre, agreed.
“I’m not very confident we would retain [the status] as [the prospective data centre] is on a scale like nothing that we have in the South West, and it would be one of the largest complexes in the whole world, so I think it is a good question to raise.”
Cllr Cottle Hunkin has launched a petition on the government website linked to AI data centres and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).
The petition calls for an urgent moratorium on AI data centres and BESS sites outside AI growth zones, mandatory rural impact assessments conducted at local level, and mandatory comprehensive investigations into financing of all proposals.
At the time of writing, it had secured 27,588 signatures. Governments respond to petitions that secure more than 10,000 signatures, while at 100,000 signatures it will be considered for debate in Parliament. The petition can be signed until 17 February next year.
Proposals first emerged about an 850-acre AI data campus, together with associated battery storage, on farmland between Great Torrington, Huntshaw and Weare Giffard in June.
The Devon Data & BESS Action Group has been working with countryside charity Devon CPRE to fight the plans claiming that this industrial development will ruin valuable farmland and have a massive visual impact on the town and surrounding countryside.
A spokesperson for Xlinks said the project team was working on the design for the campus which was “still at a relatively early stage”.
“It will be shared with residents and councils as soon as possible. We will also take into account feedback we receive as part of an extensive consultation before submitting planning applications.”
Data Centre Plan Threatens North Devon’s UNESCO Status