A petition with over 55,000 signatures was handed into Google’s flagship London office yesterday, calling on it to withdraw controversial data centre plans for an Essex Local Wildlife Site, but they refused to accept it.

Google’s proposed Thurrock Data Centre campus would destroy much of the 52 hectare Arena Essex Local Wildlife Site, which is home to hundreds of species of invertebrate, including the Brown-banded Carder Bee (Bombus humilis) and Dingy Skipper butterfly (Erynnis tages), Red Listed Nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) and Endangered Broad-leaved Cudweed (Filago pyramidata). Nestled in a former quarry and wedged between the Mardyke Valley and Lakeside Retail Park, this unique wildlife haven has thrived little noticed alongside speedway at the Arena Essex Raceway until the track’s closure in 2018. Studies have also revealed that the proposals would emit more carbon than an international airport, alongside increasing water demand in an area of exceptional drought stress, while offering few benefits for the local community.

The data centre plans have generated uproar from thousands of coalition supporters, with the petition joined by 1,000 people submitting objections to the planning application and over 3,000 people objecting to the data centre allocation in a live Local Plan consultation. 

The coalition of wildlife, environmental, fair tech and community organisations argues that Google should live up to its commitments in its 2026 Environment Report of being “deeply committed to responsibly managing the environmental footprint of our operations” and admission that “Restoring native habitat on our campuses is a critical first step, but maintaining these ecosystems is an equally important long-term effort.” To do so, it must abandon its controversial plans at the Arena Essex site. 

They argue instead that there is an opportunity to restore this unique site as a home for nature, vital open space in an overcrowded borough on the edge of London, and as a home for racing. Google’s plans would see this vision lost to concrete, with the lost habitats currently proposed to be replaced with pale imitations as far away as Colchester- leaving Thurrock worse off for open space and wildlife.

Jamie Robins, Buglife Programmes Manager, says, “Handing in this petition today is making it clear to Google that their Thurrock Data Centre plans are inappropriate and unwanted. This is simply the wrong place for a data centre and makes a mockery of Google’s sustainability claims. During a nature and climate emergency, with our insects in decline, we should be protecting our precious wildlife sites and need powerful companies to lead and make better decisions.”

Donald Campbell, Advocacy Director at tech justice non-profit Foxglove, says, “Google’s proposed data centre will cause hundreds of thousands of tonnes of extra climate pollution every year - two or three times the amount produced by an international airport. It is unacceptable that the public and the environment are being left to carry the real costs of these facilities, while US tech giants walk off with the profits. Without action from the council, this facility will have a devastating environmental impact, at both local and national level.”

Emily Buttress of Essex Wildlife Trust, says, “We are deeply concerned about the negative impacts a hyperscale data centre campus would create and the potential loss of another Local Wildlife Site in Thurrock. These are areas chosen for their significant value for wildlife and local communities. Its loss would be devastating for the local area. It would fragment the ecological network even further, putting already at-risk wildlife under an even greater threat. We urge Google to listen to the 55,000 people who agree this site should be a home for wildlife, not a data centre.”

Petition supporters have been equally vocal in highlighting their concerns about the proposals:

Graham S. says, “Open mosaic habitats like this are vital - and once lost, take years to replace and are near impossible to replicate. We must preserve these pockets of diversity and large corporations should respect their sustainability and environmental aims. It cannot be overstated what would be lost should this development proceed. Such habitats provide opportunities for rare and overlooked early successional plants, bees and wasps. How can we hope for a bright future if we don't value what we already have?”

Julian H., says, “I've looked at the planning application and the data centre destroys the site. There has already been highly destructive annihilation of landscape in this area and google clearly thinks it can do what it likes in the UK.”

Laurelle E., says, “I have seen the damage that data centres have caused to the environment, people and wildlife in areas across the world, from pollution to affecting the water and so much more. They are destroying our environment and planet.”

The campaign to secure the future of Arena Essex is supported by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation- Cambridgeshire & Essex Branch, Essex Field Club, Essex Wildlife Trust, Foxglove, Plantlife, Thurrock Hammers Speedway Team. Many of these partners have come together to support a joint Arena Essex Position Statement and Vision, which outlines the potential for Arena Essex’s future as a thriving community space, opened up as accessible green space and a home for wildlife, alongside a restored home for the Thurrock Hammers Speedway team.