A COUNCIL chair has warned that he will be seeking intervention from the police if abuse continues towards councillors and officers over a huge data centre planned for Torrington.

Cllr Doug Bushby (Ind, Bideford North) made the statement at a Torridge District Council full meeting at Caddsdown Business Support Centre in Bideford as more than 100 people, waving banners and placards, gathered outside for a peaceful protest against the scheme on 850 acres of farmland.

“We appreciate what an emotive subject the proposal to potentially site a significantly sized data centre in the area is,” Cllr Bushby said.

“It is entirely right to observe people’s freedom of speech, the ability and right to challenge and or protest at such a proposal. That is well recognised and supported, however, when language reaches certain thresholds and unfounded allegations, abuse, harassment and intimidation are made towards officers employed by Torridge District Council and elected councillors a different position has to be taken.”

He referred to abusive behaviour towards individuals on social media channels which “I cannot condone” and said this could fall into the category of “criminal activity”.

“Should the abuse towards officers and or councillors of Torridge District Council continue and/ or escalate I will be making contact with Devon and Cornwall Police to seek their support and intervention to protect our officers and councillors,” he said.

He reiterated that the council had not received planning applications for either the data centre or the battery energy storage system (BESS) on the site, both of which are being led by Xlinks, the company behind the controversial project to transmit clean energy from Morocco to Britain through long distance subsea cables and connect to the national grid at Alverdiscott, which the government withdrew its backing for last year.

He said officers and councillors had specific rules and responsibilities and operated “with the best of intentions and within specific professional codes of conduct and within the boundaries of the council’s remit”.

“If and when planning applications are received they will be dealt with within the same legislative, professional and operational boundaries that exist for all planning applications and the opportunity to air comments and or objections will be available during the planning process,” said Cllr Bushby.

Public speakers June Jones and Ken White highlighted discussions which had taken place between Xlinks and the council “behind closed doors” a year before the plans became public following a Freedom of Information request.

Ms Jones said she feared the project, expected to be one of the largest AI data centres in Europe, had been scoped to form aspects of the new local plan.

On behalf of the Devon Data Centre and Bess Action Group Mr White said many people felt it was already a “fait accompli” suggesting that officers had supported the plans in principle in early discussions.

He pleaded with the council to show by their conduct that it was “not a done deal”.

Xlinks says that early layout drawings for its £13 billion data centre and BESS site, which included buildings as tall as Exeter Cathedral looming over Torrington, were now out of date.

It says it aims to build on a third of the 850 acres with much of the remaining space open to the public and used for measures to support nature and wildlife by creating habitats.

The new facility would create between 650 and 1,200 high quality, permanent jobs, as well as allowing the South West to benefit from the expansion of AI, says Xlinks.

But there are concerns that North Devon could lose its UNESCO Biosphere designation if the plan goes ahead.

The world leading environmental organisation has said that if built the data centre and BESS site would 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”.

Torridge councillor and cabinet member for rural affairs on Devon County Council Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin (Torrington Rural) whose petition calling on the government for a moratorium on planning permission for data centres and battery energy storage sites collected nearly 30,000 signatures, said there was cross party support against the Xlinks scheme.

She said it was “amazing” to see so many people at the peaceful protest.

“I want every single person to know that they are being seen and they are being heard, and to keep up the great work,” she said.

“There is so much power in unity. This an issue which connects people across the political spectrum. We need to work together to emphasise that industrialisation of this scale on our agricultural land here in North Devon’s UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is not acceptable and is not necessary.

“AI infrastructure and AI regulation needs urgent attention nationally. The government must halt hyperscale proposals and come up with a strategy for sustainable AI, decide how much data centre capacity we actually need in the UK, what it will be used for, and how it should be delivered.

“The amount of energy and global resources this technology consumes is staggering and makes a mockery of the climate emergency. We need change now and politicians need to wake up to the severe consequences of doing nothing. We are putting power and control into the hands of tech giants and the super-rich at the cost of destroying local communities and environments up and down the country.”