Jake Humphrey Sparks Uprising Against UK's Biggest Data Centre Plan

A Battle for the Countryside: Jake Humphrey's Fight Against a Data Centre

BBC presenter Jake Humphrey is leading a campaign against a massive data centre that he fears will ruin his idyllic Norfolk village. The 47-year-old, known for hosting BBC Sport's Formula One coverage, is furious at plans to build what would be one of the UK’s largest data centres on countryside near the close-knit rural community of Keswick.

The proposed Norwich Apex Data Centre is set to be built on a 32-acre site once famous for its dazzling summer array of poppies and located near the renowned Marston Marsh nature reserve. Mr. Humphrey is among more than 7,000 people who have signed a petition opposing the plan, fearing it will ruin the area’s rural character, create noise and traffic, and disturb wildlife.

He remains unconvinced by assurances from the company behind the proposal that the two-storey centre’s buildings will have full sound insulation, keeping noise to a minimum. The former CBBC presenter insists he is not against all data centres but believes the proposed one in Keswick is in the wrong place due to it being in an area of beautiful countryside.

He told the Daily Mail:

"This landscape is precious because it is one of the last places where Norwich still arrives gently. Open fields, big Norfolk skies, old lanes, church towers, marshland, wildlife and history. It is rural, it is quiet, and it has an unspoilt character that has been shaped over time. That is why a data centre feels so TOTALLY out of place here."

"A huge, secure, power-hungry industrial facility does not belong beside marshes, river valleys, historic churches and rural homes. However it is dressed up in planning language, it would fundamentally change the feeling of this whole area. It would bring scale, noise, light, fencing, substations, generators, traffic and a sense of permanent industrialisation to south Norwich that is currently defined by openness, nature and history. And once that is gone, it is gone forever."

Community Concerns and Public Meetings

Earlier this month, scores of villagers packed out a public meeting hosted by the developer at Keswick Reading Rooms in an attempt to explain its plans for the centre—which will employ up to 140 staff. The building is being proposed to be built on a triangle of land beside the A140 road between Ipswich and Norwich, opposite a large Tesco store.

The area was originally given planning consent by South Norfolk Council to become a business park, and had vegetation cleared away and preparatory groundwork started before it suddenly stopped several years ago. No planning application has yet gone in to South Norfolk Council, although many residents fear that local opposition will be ignored and the project will eventually be waived through by the Government which is eager to increase the UK's data capacity to fuel the Artificial Intelligence revolution.

Villagers fear it will represent a further over-development of the area as a giant sub-station feeding renewable energy from the massive Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm into the National Grid is currently being built in nearby Swardeston.

There are also plans to expand the sub-station with a Tesla battery farm, enabling power to be stored and released into the grid when it is not windy, so that homes can still be powered.

Voices from the Village

Retired Slimming World manager Karen Gaul, 73, who lives in Keswick, said:

"One of the reasons we came to live here nine years ago was the lovely woodland and the beautiful countryside. We have already got the monstrosity sub-station nearby. Having the battery storage site and the data centre on our doorsteps will just be too much."

Another resident, Tracy, 60, said:

"The reason a lot of us moved here was the tranquillity, and the peace. The data centre is going to ruin all of that. We already have light pollution, and the traffic in the area is a nightmare due to our roads being used as a rat run, and being unable to cope. The last thing we need is another major development. Nobody is happy about it."

Retired vet Monica Warmerdam, a Keswick parish councillor, said:

"The first we heard about the plans was when Apex contacted us a couple of weeks ago. I think the timing was suspicious, just at the beginning of summer holidays when a lot of people were going away."

Perspectives from the Community

While some residents express concerns, others are more open to the idea. Tesco worker Elizabeth Fox, 41, said:

"I haven’t actually got a problem with it. The company behind it has given us all sorts of assurances about noise, and the usage of water. At the end of the day, I just want the land used for something and proper drainage to be installed."

Despite these differing opinions, the debate continues to highlight the tension between technological progress and the preservation of rural landscapes.

Norwich Apex claims its site will support many of the digital services people use every day, including cloud computing, online banking, streaming services, healthcare systems, and business operations. The firm’s website insists that the centre will create a large number of well-paid local jobs and become a piece of National Critical Infrastructure, helping to position Norwich as an emerging technology and innovation hub. It will also have 'landscape and ecological enhancements' including new planting to mitigate noise and largely hide it from view.

Share :