Yare Valley Society probes data centre plan

An AI data centre, Norwich Apex Data Centre, is being proposed in the Valley on the large triangle of land opposite Tesco, near Harford Bridge.

Most of us now make daily use our phones, computers and televisions.

Many new data centres are being built in the UK to meet demand for cloud computing, streaming services and artificial intelligence services. The Norwich Apex Data Centre would be at the top end of the scale in terms of size, at 150MW and would cover 13 hectares. It would also include a three-storey office block and a substation. More information is at https://www.apexnorwichdatacentre.co.uk/.

Data centres operate 24/7 for 365 days of the year and are already causing concern in other parts of the country because of their size, energy and water requirements, noise output, heat output, light pollution and other factors. The emissions from data centres can have an impact at several kilometres distance.

OPPOSITION: A poster shows the strength of feeling in some quarters

The proposed Apex Data Centre is in the Yare Valley. The Yare Valley is recognised in Local Plans as a Strategic Green Infrastructure Corridor and is a vital part of the local ecological network.

It plays a key role in the present effort to halt, and hopefully reverse, the present decline in biodiversity.

It is crucial that a data centre in the Valley should be carefully planned so as not to damage the wildlife of the Corridor or to render its green space unsuitable for relaxing informal recreation.

Yare Valley Society is assembling a Data Centre Team to look closely at the ecological ramifications of noise, light, heat, electromagnetic radiation and more, from the proposed data centre, and its impact on wildlife and humans. Danby Wood, Marston Marsh, Keswick Marsh and Eaton Common could be nature areas particularly affected. Anyone with knowledge of the likely implications on wildlife of data centres is asked to contact yvs@yarevalleysociety.org.uk.

FAMILY: A pair of swans and their young on Marston Marsh. Photo: JOHN ELBRO.

The Data Centre Team will make its findings public in time to assist anyone wishing to comment on the full data centre planning application when it is submitted.

Once the planning application is published by South Norfolk and Broadland Council, it can be viewed and public comments can be submitted via the planning portal at planning@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk.

– John Elbro (Yare Valley Society chair).