Hello lovely loves,
It's been a while, and while things have been all over the shop health-wise here, there's been a new complication. There are plans proposed to build a massive data centre in our tiny village. Or should I say tiny villages, because there are also huge solar farms planned surrounding them, and more in other villages nearby. The whole project is planned to cover 4700 acres of agricultural land.
I'm very much pro-green energy, and the concept of solar farms themselves don't bother me (although I'm not sure viable farmland is the best placement, especially if it's not done in a way the preserves the ability to farm said land), but given the current amount of energy being touted to be made (we'll see if that number is refined) and the amount of energy taken to run the data centre, it seems very much like the solar farms are an excuse to make the centre happen.
And of course, for me, the terrifying thing is the noise. Long time readers and friends will know that noise sensitivity is a real issue for me, and if it goes ahead and is as noisy as people have said then it's definitely going to put my health back. I'm not sure how far, but to be honest I don't really want to find out!
In that vein, I wrote a piece to send out to local newspapers. I don't know whether it'll get picked up, but even if it doesn't, at least I said my piece and tried everything I could. If anyone has any contacts or places to recommend sending it please let me know.
We're fighting this however we can, and if you could sign the petition that would be amazing.
There's also a parliamentary petition to stop the construction of new AI data centres specifically.
Either way, here's the unedited piece:
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When I first saw the flyer come through the letterbox and saw the talk of solar farming I was excited. “Finally”, I thought, “a great move towards green energy.” And then the closer I looked into it the more I realised it was just an elaborate greenwashing campaign for a data centre. A massive, mile long by half a mile wide, data centre, in our tiny, quiet village, surrounded by miles and miles of solar panels and batteries all across the county, all there, not for the purpose of clean energy, but for running one, singular building.
Olympian Beth Dobbin recently spoke up about her experience of the illness ME/CFS and how hellish it can be. Every activity, no matter how small, has to be offset by constant resting or you slowly get worse and worse. It feels like your whole system is shutting down.
I’ve been ill with it for fourteen years. I woke up sick one day, and I never got better. I tried to push through it for the first 18 months, and all that happened is that I ended up housebound. That was twelve years ago.
But, very, very slowly, there have been improvements. It’s been a slog, but going from almost bed bound to being able to go outside for a little (chauffeured, courtesy of my Mum) trip round the village every couple of months has been wonderful.
There’s a little bridge over a stream in Tilney St Lawrence, and the first time I was able to sit on it (we brought a stool for the purpose) for five minutes and see the trees and the water, I cried. And now, with the Longmarsh development looming, I risk being shut away all over again.
One of the many symptoms my condition gives me is acute noise sensitivity. Loud noises are instantly debilitating, and leave me dizzy, breathless and faint. If they continue beyond a certain time frame then I experience a flare and I’m bed-bound for days, or weeks, depending on the severity. I’m not the only sufferer in the area, either.
Data centres are loud, even to people who are healthy. There’s hundreds of videos online showing just how constant and grating it is. There are reports of nausea, headaches and anxiety.
Although the project gives vague suggestions to “limit” (not stop) noise, there’s no decibel level quoted, or the amount that they would be able to decrease it.
In an incredibly flat landscape, like the one it’s planned in, we all know sound travels incredibly easily. There’s nothing to stop it. The closest homes would be only 300m away from the data centre itself. The panels and battery area, which require noisy air conditioning and fire suppression, would be only 30m from the nearest houses.
Everyone in the area will be affected if the Longmarsh project goes ahead, but for me as soon as the data centre is running it’s 24/7 groaning howl I’ll be trapped inside again. No trips to the bridge, no sitting in the garden, not even any windows open. If it’s loud enough to be heard inside, then I’ll have to wear ear plugs and ear defenders, all the time, day or night, or risk becoming bed-bound. If that doesn’t shut it out, then I genuinely don’t know what will happen.
I dread to think of the impact it’ll have on pets and wildlife.
There’s so many other reasons I think this project is a terrible idea (using agricultural land when we’ve been warned of potential food shortages seems like a pretty important one) but it’s difficult not to think about how the vulnerable members of the community, like me, will be affected. I’ve worked so hard to get out of this house, and now, because of one building, that’s all at risk.
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