Shocked residents in a group of sleepy villages have discovered they will be surrounded by a mammoth data centre and solar farm, larger than Heathrow Airport.
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they → discover → Airport
The inhabitants of Tilney St Lawrence and nearby settlements near King's Lynn, Norfolk, have reacted with anger and astonishment after learning of the vast proposed project only two weeks ago.
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inhabitants → react → project
Within days, the Fenland community, amid some of the best farmland in the world, went on a 'war footing', determined that they will see off the Big Data moguls threatening their way of life.
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they → go → life
A petition set up to oppose the plan has already collected a remarkable 43,000 signatures in just a week.
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petition → set → week
The planned development dwarfs any similar facility currently in the UK and covers a mind-blowing 4,700 acres, around 2,600 football pitches – making it 50 per cent larger than Britain's biggest airport.
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it → plan → airport
Developers say the Longmarsh Green Energy project will require up to one gigawatt of power at any given time, while the solar farm alongside it will generate up to 1.3GW – more than any other solar farm in the country.
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farm → say → country
But the campaigners of newly formed Stop Longmarsh say those figures are misleading as the solar energy is not constant and they claim up to 85 per cent of the power needed to run the data centre will still have to be drawn from the national grid, even if a larger amount is fed back into the grid at other times of day.
The £25billion centre, planned to go live in 2032, will be spread across two nearby sites and is, the developers say, 'critical for future UK economic growth'.
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developers → form → growth
The inhabitants of Tilney St Lawrence and nearby settlements near King's Lynn, Norfolk, have discovered they will be surrounded by a mammoth data centre and solar farm
The planned development dwarfs any similar facility currently in the UK and covers a mind-blowing 4,700 acres
Within days, the Fenland community, amid some of the best farmland in the world, went on a 'war footing', determined that they will see off the Big Data moguls threatening their way of life
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they → discover → life
But locals are worried about the effect the eight-storey high and 600m long data 'campus', as well as the vast expanse of solar panels will have on their current idyllic views across open fields, with a constant background noise and light pollution at night.
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campus → have → night
If the vast acreage to be given over to the tech project were planted solely with wheat, it would produce a staggering 25.5million loaves – enough to meet the entire nation's bread needs for three days, say the campaigners.
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campaigners → give → days
They have demanded to know why it cannot be built on a brownfield site instead of prime agricultural land, but say they have received no satisfactory answer.
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they → demand → answer
Then there's the effect on local wildlife, including a heronry at nearby Tilney-cum-Islington designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, where around 80 nests make up the largest breeding colony of grey herons in Norfolk.
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nests → be → Norfolk
Tilney St Lawrence Parish council Chairman Barry Ayres told the Mail that the announcement had dealt a body blow to the community.
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announcement → tell → community
'The scale of this thing is out of this world,' he said.
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he → say → world
'Why are they building it on agricultural land and not on any of the many brownfield sites in the area?
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they → build → area
'We have invited the developers to a public meeting of the parish council on Monday (November 2), but they say they're not coming.
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they → invite → Monday
'It's provoked a huge storm of opposition because there are so many unanswered questions.
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It → provoke → opposition
A building of that size out in the country is completely the wrong place, and we're told there will be a constant noise from the site.
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we → tell → site
'That's not to mention the huge amount of construction traffic needed to build the place and reach it via our little narrow roads.'
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That → mention → roads
Retired environmental scientist Dr Martin Little, 76, who led a successful previous 'David and Goliath' fight in the area against a huge incinerator, has now turned his intellectual guns on the new 'invaders', Evolution Power Ltd, backed by Finnish global sustainable energy giant Korkia.
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who → lead → Korkia
'You have to ask yourself why Finland is coming to Fenland,' he said with a smile.
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he → have → smile
'The UK government is so keen to allow these huge data projects that they'll do anything to attract them, even if local people can see the flaws, and have completely sound objections.
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people → allow → objections
Sam Patel, 40, who runs The Buck Inn pub is one of many resident raging at the data centre plans
Tilney St Lawrence, a small village in Norfolk, has a population of just 1,500 people
'
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Lawrence → run → people
We feel like native Americans back in the days of the wild west and they've discovered gold in our midst and they want to trample our objections into the ground, and no doubt us too.
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they → feel → ground
EPL was founded in 2021 and is run by directors Giles Frampton and Conor McNally.
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EPL → found → Frampton
Partnering with Korkia – which is behind energy projects in Europe, North and South America – the company has 'ambitious' plans for renewable schemes in the UK.
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company → partner → UK
Those have included a 262-acre scheme near Luton Airport, which was rejected by the local council but approved on appeal.
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which → include → appeal
Earlier this year Sevenoaks District Council turned down proposals for a solar farm on greenbelt land.
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Council → turn → land
Dorset Council refused permission for the incinerator in 2023 but the decision was overturned by the government following an appeal.
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decision → refuse → appeal
On her petition, organiser Emily Gerard said: 'After living overseas, I made a decision to come back to Norfolk for its natural beauty, its peace, and its slower pace of life alongside friends and family.'
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I → say → friends
She posted an idyllic view of a golden wheat field at harvest time from her in-laws' home in Tilney-cum-Islington, which looks directly onto part of the proposed site.
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which → post → site
'If these plans go ahead, this view could be transformed by a vast data centre development spanning thousands of acres of our countryside.
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view → go → countryside
'The impact would reach far beyond what we see from our windows, affecting the surrounding community, our rural way of life, and the habitats of the wildlife that calls this place home.
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that → reach → place
'Progress shouldn't have to mean sacrificing our countryside.
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Progress → have → countryside
And once a landscape like this is gone, we cannot simply get it back.'
Another resident in Tilney-cum-Islington, events manager Tracey Lloyd, 52, who moved to the area from London 18 months ago, says she will happily lie in the road to stop the construction traffic if it comes to it.
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it → go → it
The Goodley family have decided to make millions by selling or leasing their land to the Finnish-backed energy giant planning the data centre and solar farm
A petition set up to oppose the plan has already collected a remarkable 43,000 signatures in just a week
'
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petition → decide → week
We are on a war footing here and they might think they'll be able to ride roughshod over a rural community waving pitchforks, they're very wrong.
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they → think → pitchforks
We've got extremely intelligent, well-connected people living around here and we're organised.
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we → get → people
They've picked a fight with the wrong village.
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They → pick → village
'Make no mistake, if we need to get every car in this village to block the road, that's what we'll do.
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we → make → what
…and 62 more, not listed.
The Aporia
