More than 1,000 comments have been made against the proposed extension to Ark Data Centres campus near Corsham, UK.

The campus is located at Spring Park, a plot of land formerly belonging to the Ministry of Defence, situated adjacent to a retirement village called Wadswick Green. The extension would involve the construction of an 18-meter-tall building on a land parcel called ‘Donkey Field.’

Ark already operates five data centers at Spring Park. A sixth was approved in May 2024, and the planning application for this latest proposed extension would bring the total number to seven, was submitted in June 2024.

By September 2024, more than 100 residents of Wadswick Green had registered complaints about the development with Wiltshire Council, and the application itself had attracted more than 300 comments.

That number has now ballooned to more than 1,000 ahead of the consultation deadline of July 30.

The comments are clustered around a few key themes, including: the visual and environmental impact, potential noise pollution, the loss of biodiversity, the threat posed to endangered bat species, a potential flood risk, and increased traffic.

It is unclear when the application is set to be considered by Wiltshire Council. Ark told the Gazette and Herald that it is hoping for August.

Founded in 2005, Ark has 27 data centers across nine sites in operation or development across the UK and Belgium, totaling more than 560MW. It operates data center campuses at Cody Park in Farnborough, Meridian Park in north London, and Spring Park in Wiltshire’s Corsham, with a number of projects under development, including Union Park and Alliance Park in west London.

Controlled by Elliott Investment Management with Revcap as a minority investor, Ark serves a number of UK government departments and agencies, and also has a joint venture with the Cabinet Office called Crown Hosting to provide colocation services to public sector bodies and government departments.