A GROUP of children who are opposed to the construction of an AI data centre have resorted to music to make their point.

The children’s intervention follows months of protests from their parents and local opposition groups which have been making their voices heard against proposals for a large AI data centre and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) on land at Great Torrington.

With the help of North Devon musician Becki Driscoll, the children have written and recorded their own emotive protest song and released a YouTube video as part of their efforts to represent children their age in opposing the planned AI data centre, a proposal being overseen by XLinks.

Devon CPRE and the Devon Data Centre & BESS Action Group have been campaigning against what they describe as a ‘monstrous development’ since the proposals came to light in June.

However, the idea to write and record ‘Stop the Monster’ came from the children themselves.

Two young singers, Mara and Jas, asked community musician Becki to help them, and the trio composed a song expressing their fears about the impact the proposed AI data centre will have on all those who live in and near the town and further afield.

The young singer-songwriters recorded their protest song in October at the Climate Changing Room in Great Torrington with a group of children and young people who also wanted to give their voices to this campaign.

In the video, the performers are shown in a natural setting, interspersed with a child’s drawn illustrations of the ‘monster’ and the damage they fear it will wreak.

The group of young activists hopes the song will be widely shared, showing that people of all ages across Devon are concerned about the Xlinks’ proposal.

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It can be viewed on Becki Driscoll’s RootNotes YouTube page and it’s being shared by Devon CPRE and the Devon Data Centre & BESS Action Group.