Updates and template email

After the people at the public consultation (aka PR stunt) informed us that the online feedback form would be closing on the 21st July it still appears to be open. So, if you haven't done so already I recommend submitting feedback through there in opposition to the development: https://www.tvpdc.co.uk/have-your-say

Since Wokingham Borough Council's Planning Committee meeting for some reason does not have this proposal on their agenda I have emailed the Democratic Services to ask them which committee/meeting this petition should be submitted to. However, I still intend to email all the members of Wokingham Borough Council's Planning Committee in regards to this proposal. If you have the time I recommend you do the same, all their email addresses can be found here: 

Here is a template email to send to the committee members, which was written by one of the reviewers of this petition. Please do remember to add your name and your place of residence, indicated with <<<>>>. 

Good afternoon,  

My name is <<<insert name>>> and I am a resident of <<<Reading/Wokingham/Other>>>.  
I appreciate your time and I will try to keep this brief. I would like to outline why I believe the data centre in Reading should not be built.

Bloomberg reports that nearly half of data centre builds have been abandoned, left half-finished or scraped. Evidentially, the number of centres currently in production far exceeds the requirements. With existing data centres in Swindon, Slough and Didcot. Is there really a reason to have another in such close proximity? With the increase in chip prices and the uncertainty over the energy market, the building of new data centres is becoming increasingly expensive and more likely to be abandoned or unprofitable.
  
This year, regions in America which had newly built data centres saw an increase in residential electricity bills of up to 70%. Similarly, the UK government is offering significantly discounted electricity supply per MWh to data centres with discounts between 10 and 20%, the cost of which is footed by taxpayers. Increasing the bills of your voters is unlikely to be a popular policy. The instability and insecurity of the energy supplies is very likely to impact an already taxed energy supply; more so with the addition of a power-hungry data centre and is likely to push up bills further. 

Equally, this centre poses a risk to water supplies. Thames Water already struggles with supply, being fined on multiple occasions for poor service. The average data centre requires 110 million gallons of water per year, adding significant loads to an already taxed system. A single 100-word prompt takes half a litre of water to run. The claim of a ‘closed-loop’ system is a fallacy as the water-cooling system which provides cool water to chip racks itself is firstly, very power hungry and secondly the water must still be treated by Thames Water and will be integrated with current infrastructure. The environmental agency published a report where they expect a 5 billion litre shortage in UK water supply if data centres are not halted. The UK government report to the house of commons have forecast £25 billion lost due to water shortages, directly linked to data centres.  

Given the recent and continuing heatwaves, which are becoming more frequent, year on year, the addition of a heat emitting, and endlessly thirsty data centre would only add strain to the local environment and make Reading a more intolerable place to live to residents. This is in addition to the widely reported noise pollution for local homes and businesses. If you go to the digital billboards in the center of Reading, you will hear the hum they produce. Scale this to the proposed size of the data centre and you will get a feel for the impact on the area. 

A typical data centre employs around 100 people. This is a pitiful return on investment for overwhelming harm to the people in the local community. I see no material benefit to the people of Reading and a significant cost. This data centre should not be built. 

I appreciate your time and attention to this matter and trust you will do right by the voters in your constituency. 
 
Kind regards, 
<<<insert name>>> 
 
P.S. If you’d like to read more about the government’s report regarding the detrimental impact of data centers on the economy and local environment, please feel free to read the following report: 
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/688cb407dc6688ed50878367/Water_use_in_data_centre_and_AI_report.pd