{"id":786724,"date":"2026-09-29T20:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T20:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/786724\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T20:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T20:38:10","slug":"even-george-osborne-might-be-a-nimby-if-an-ai-datacentre-was-built-next-to-his-home-datacentres-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/786724\/","title":{"rendered":"Even George Osborne might be a nimby if an AI datacentre was built next to his home | Datacentres – UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, George Osborne thinks people who don\u2019t want an AI datacentre on their doorstep are nimbys (OpenAI\u2019s George Osborne says datacentre nimbys holding back Britain, 22 September<\/a>). He ought to come and visit our small town in Devon, where there are plans to build one of the largest datacentres in Europe, along with a battery energy storage system, on 850 acres of farmland.<\/p>\n

The size of this proposed development is quite out of proportion to its location \u2013 larger than the town itself \u2013 and accessed by narrow lanes. It would be a huge blot on a beautiful rural landscape that is enjoyed by holidaymakers who are vital to the local economy.<\/p>\n

It would destroy local residents\u2019 quality of life, with its noise, lights and greed for energy and water, and we will not accept the imposition of this monstrosity on our doorstep without a fight (\u2018People are standing up and fighting back\u2019: the north Devon revolt against a vast AI datacentre, 27 September<\/a>).
Moira Brewer
Great Torrington, Devon<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of open space with just a few sheep and the odd planted turnip around Bruton in Somerset. Has George Osborne<\/a> got a datacentre in his back yard yet?
Mark Davis
Frome, Somerset<\/p>\n

Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please email<\/a> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters<\/a> section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So, George Osborne thinks people who don\u2019t want an AI datacentre on their doorstep are nimbys (OpenAI\u2019s George…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-786724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}