I've been asked to write a (hopefully short) opposition paper on datacentres to circulate among councillors and other activists here in the UK to help oppose them. I have a whole lot of notes already in mind from what I've been reading over the years, but it would certainly help to have specific cases to reference when speaking to various pro-datacentre arguments. I'm going to be doing my own research of course, but any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

For example, if you have knowledge of cases where datacentres have been erected with negative outcomes like diminished water quality or massive energy price hikes, I would really appreciate it if you could share some links to news sources.

I've heard for example that often these are pitched as "closed loop" but then they're installed using the cheaper "open loop" model, but I don't know of specific cases. If you do, please share. If you have evidence of other dodgy stuff done in support of these things, I want to hear that too.

I think I have the societal damage angle covered, as well as the distinction between "AI" datacentres and traditional ones, but any official stats about the number of actual (permanent vs. temporary) jobs produced would be good too.

As I said, I'll be doing my own research here, but I figure some of you may want to contribute in your own way. Local-level opposition is where a lot of these projects go to die, and at the moment, I'm getting the distinct impression that many local councillors are lacking basic understanding of the subject matter.