Wildlife groups and bikers press Google to abandon its Thurrock data center

Google says its proposed data center in Thurrock, east of London, can protect biodiversity and offset emissions. Wildlife campaigners, environmental groups and motorcycle enthusiasts want it stopped instead. Last Wednesday, campaigners took a petition with almost 55,000 signatures to Google’s UK headquarters, calling for the company to abandon the project, WIRED reports.

Buglife campaigner Jamie Robins brought a letter detailing the petition to the company’s Kings Cross offices. Members of the coalition gathered outside with placards urging Google to “search elsewhere.” Their shared target is one development, but their reasons for opposing it differ: protecting rare species, limiting pollution and returning motorcycle racing to a disused track.

The proposed campus would occupy a site containing the remains of Arena Essex, a former motorcycle racing stadium, alongside grassland and a lake. Google bought the property through a subsidiary in 2023 and applied for permission to build the campus in May 2025. The application brought local opponents together with national wildlife and environmental organizations.

Three objections to one campus

• Habitat: Buglife and local wildlife groups say construction threatens an endangered plant, a rare bumblebee and habitat for other invertebrates. Their objection concerns the ecological value of the land around the former stadium, not just the fate of the sporting venue.
• Emissions: Environmental nonprofit Foxglove says the development could produce up to 570,000 tonnes of emissions annually. It argues that this amount cannot fit within the UK government’s carbon budget. That is the campaign group’s assessment of the proposed project, not a measurement from an operating facility.
• Racing: The Thurrock Hammers motorcycle club wants to return to racing at the site and objects to losing the sporting facility. Club director Mark Sexton told WIRED that the riders object on different grounds from their fellow campaigners, but that the unusual alliance has attracted attention.

The petition is not the only channel opponents have used. Of about 1,000 public responses submitted to the planning authority, only one supported the project. Thurrock Council cautioned that many submissions came from people outside the local area, so the response count should not be read as a tally of nearby residents alone.

We recognize the ecological value of these sites. Our goal is to minimize the impact as much as possible.

Adam Elman, Google’s director of sustainability for EMEA, speaking to WIRED

Google’s answer faces a planning test

Google disputes the objections, saying they rest on misconceptions about its plans. Its proposed biodiversity measures include retaining habitat and moving endangered plants elsewhere. The company says those steps would deliver a net gain in biodiversity. On emissions, it says it will finance new renewable energy generation as offsets, with a goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030.

The company also rejects the club’s characterization of the stadium’s loss. Google argues that the track has been unused for years, so demolishing it would not remove an invaluable community facility. The riders’ wish to resume racing puts the dispute over the site’s future use alongside the arguments about its current ecological value.

Thurrock Council told WIRED it expects to rule on the initial planning application in early 2027. That decision would not complete the review: Google would then need a more detailed development plan, subject to further scrutiny. Campaigners say they intend to contest the project at each stage, leaving both the initial decision and any later detailed plan as points of continued resistance.