A nine-year-old girl has given a speech to Torridge District Council urging them to refuse plans for a giant AI data centre and battery energy storage site which would stretch across 850 acres of Torrington farmland near her home.

Demelza May who lives on a local farm said she was very worried and anxious about the proposal by Xlinks which would “change our home forever”.

She told a full council meeting on Monday night that she had attended nearly every protest outside the council offices in Caddsdown, holding up signs.

“I want my future to look green and beautiful,” she said. “I want to be able to see dark skies and all the stars. I want there to be only birds humming and singing and trees rustling.

“You think it’s  going to bring opportunities to the area, opportunities for what? The only people that will benefit are Xlinks.

“When I am older I want to be a farmer and maybe carry on my family’s businesses. There are lots of opportunities here, you just need to support local people and small businesses rather than an industry full of tech billionaires.”

She said although the government might be supportive of the scheme as people with big businesses said they wanted this, it was the councillors’ job to fight for local people, their homes, community and landscape.

“I want to make sure you do everything you can to protect our future and ensure this proposal does not go ahead. The decision you will be making will affect me and all the other children in this area for the rest of our lives.

“No children want this, or adults. I really want it to stop… Please do not choose for it to go ahead.”

Demelza’s comments received a round of applause with chair Doug Bushby (Ind, Bideford North) congratulating her for reading her script better than most adults would.

Xlinks, the company behind a plan to carry solar and wind generated electricity from Morocco to the UK via the world’s longest sea cable which was rejected following a change in direction from the government, intends to submit proposals for the 1.5 GW AI data centre, believed to the largest in Europe, and 1.8 GW BESS following a public consultation period.

The company says It is designed to be a long-term anchor for digital infrastructure in the south west, serving the growing national demand for AI compute capacity while providing a stable, large-scale offtake for clean energy.

The campus would represent capital investment of £12.2–13.8 billion and is estimated to make an annual economic contribution of around £3.3–3.6 billion, support 2,000–3,500 jobs during construction and 600–1,200 permanent operational roles once complete.

Xlinks has also promised a “community benefit package” for local residents and organisations, a skills and education programme as well as a commitment to local supply chains.

But there has been massive opposition to the scheme with opponents concerned about the impact on wildlife, the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, water consumption and noise from the complex.

Freedom of Information requests revealed that Torridge officers gave “support in principle” to it during a pre application process, a year before the project was announced to the public.

Opponents claim that Xlinks has used this support to apply to the government to designate this part of North Devon an official AI growth zone.

Other speakers against it at the council meeting asked what independent, expert advice the council had in place to properly test the application which would cover an area “larger than Marsh Barton in Exeter”.

Matt Whittaker, vice chair of the Devon Data Centre and Bess Action Group demonstrated the sound from one BESS unit through a small speaker.  He said there would be 1,720 resonating noisy BESS containers in the centre of the countryside.

“That relentless noise will carry out over many miles into your bedroom at night every day…. Good Friday, Christmas morning… every moment of every single day.”

A couple of fields away this would merge into one largest data centres yet to be built in the world, he said.

He said it was clear that the majority of councillors at Torridge were not aware that “support in principle” had been issued for the “gargantuan project” and asked those who did not support it to request it was rescinded until the full extent of the proposal was analysed and understood.

Torridge District Council has said that it followed procedure during the pre planning process, no formal applications had been submitted and the planning committee would determine any proposals that came forward.