A nine-year-old girl is leading the campaign against plans to build Europe's largest data centre on 850 acres of British countryside.
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girl → lead → countryside
Demelza May wants to stop the developer Xlinks from building the AI campus which would dwarf the town of Great Torrington in Devon only one mile away.
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which → want → Devon
Alongside her mother, Daisy Hiron-Snow, 30, the schoolgirl has joined 'up in arms' locals protesting against the £13billion proposals.
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schoolgirl → join → proposals
Demelza has become a vocal opponent against the plans which were announced to residents by flyers posted through their letterboxes in June.
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which → become → June
The data centre campus - located between Great Torrington, Huntshaw and Weare Gifford - would create between 650-1200 jobs upon completion and contribute £3.6billion to the UK's economy, according to Xlinks.
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campus → locate → Xlinks
The youngster, who lives on a local farm with her family, spoke about the risks the development poses at a Torridge District Council meeting.
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development → live → meeting
She fears that if built the massive data centre would destroy the surrounding landscape, local wildlife and affect water supplies.
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centre → fear → supplies
'I don’t want this, and I’m going to try and stop it with everything I’m doing,' she said.
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she → want → everything
Daisy Hiron-Snow, 30, and Demelza May, nine are fighting plans to build a data centre in Torrington
An aerial view of Devon countryside which could be used to build the massive data centre campus
'
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which → fight → campus
It’ll take away a huge area of land and change our home forever.
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It → take → home
It makes me really sad because all the wildlife will be crushed - they won’t have a home.'
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they → make → home
Demelza said that she wants the development to stop adding: 'It’s not right for the world.
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It → say → world
It’s not right for my future.
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It → ’ → future
It’s not right for everyone’s future.'
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It → ’ → future
The youngster's campaigning came after the Daily Mail revealed plans to build the data centre, believed to be the largest in Europe, in July.
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Mail → come → July
Residents were concerned that the campus would 'destroy' the town and surrounding landscape.
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campus → destroy → town
More than 37,700 people have since signed a petition calling for the gargantuan AI campus, including 1720 battery storage units, to be scrapped.
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campus → sign → units
Local business owner and mother, Daisy, said that after researching the proposals she realised that building the data centre would be 'catastrophic.
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building → say → centre
'
'We believe it’s probably the biggest data centre campus in the world, and the battery storage facility would be in the top 10 biggest in the world,' she said.
'
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she → believe → world
I have been looking into the impacts that this proposal could have on the tourism and farming industry in the area.
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proposal → look → area
Demelza voiced her worries about the proposals at a Torridge District Council meeting on October 26
An artist's impression of what the Devon data centre could look like upon completion
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centre → voice → completion
I always thought the proposal was bad, but the more I’ve researched, I realise that it could be catastrophic.'
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it → think → more
Matt Whittaker, a former Torrington Town Hall trustee, attended a public meeting on June 25 - the day the plans were announced.
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plans → attend → June
He told the Daily Mail: 'We know that this data centre cannot go here but we are going to prove it.
'
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we → tell → it
Everyone is up in arms but we are doing it in an intelligent way.
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we → do → way
We are driven by emotion but we are not distracted by our hearts.
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we → drive → hearts
It won't just destroy the town, it's far bigger than that.'
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it → destroy → that
The 59-year-old voiced his qualms about the AI-generated image of the campus which does not accurately depict the true scale of the site.
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which → voice → site
He added: 'There's 112 containers in the image, but there will actually be more than 2300 battery containers one and a half miles from a school with a cooling system on the side of each one screaming at 65 decibels.
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He → add → decibels
The image is an early rendered illustration of what the data centre could look like and is 'not reflective of either the site or the scheme,' according to Xlinks.
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centre → render → Xlinks
The firm said the data centre would serve the growing demand for AI in the UK while providing a long-term commitment to clean energy.
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centre → say → energy
The data centre campus could take up to 850 acres of land just one mile away from an idyllic Devon town
No formal planning applications have been submitted but the council planning committee will determine the outcome of any proposals put forward.
Xlinks currently holds a land option for up to 850 acres, but the current layout uses around a third of that land.
It said that the majority of the site would be used for environmental measures and public open spaces including woodland.
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majority → take → woodland
A Torridge District Council spokesperson said: 'It was great to welcome Demelza to speak at Torridge District Council’s Full Council Meeting on Monday 26 October.
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It → say → Monday
'We know that this is an issue that has generated a lot of local interest, and it was impressive to witness how well and passionately Demelza spoke.
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Demelza → know → interest
'It is great to see people of a young age engaging with democracy and recognising the importance and right to have their voice heard.
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voice → see → importance
'We feel this is important and would strongly encourage people of any age young and old to have their say on local issues.
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this → feel → issues
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