# Bikers and conservationists unite against Google data center

> An unlikely coalition of wildlife groups, environmental nonprofits and a motorcycle club is fighting Google's plan to build a large data center in Thurrock, east of London.
- Title: Bikers and conservationists unite against Google data center
- Summary: An unlikely coalition of wildlife groups, environmental nonprofits and a motorcycle club is fighting Google's plan to build a large data center in Thurrock…
- Keywords: google, data center, thurrock, buglife, foxglove, thurrock hammers, environmental protest, biodiversity, artificial intelligence, WIRED
- Source: WIRED — https://wired.com/story/bug-activists-and-biker-gang-members-are-teaming-up-to-protest-data-centers
- Author: Joel Khalili
- Published: 2026-11-09T07:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: google, data center, thurrock, buglife, foxglove, thurrock hammers, environmental protest, biodiversity, artificial intelligence
## Unlikely alliance forms against Google
Jamie Robins from wildlife trust Buglife delivered a petition signed by almost 55,000 people to Google's UK headquarters in Kings Cross, London, on Wednesday, calling for the company to abandon plans for a data center…
## Three groups unite on different grounds
Buglife and local wildlife groups fear habitat destruction for endangered plants and rare bumblebees.Nonprofit Foxglove says the data center will emit too much pollution.
## Why Google wants to build here
Across the UK, companies like Google are preparing to build industrial-scale data centers to meet swelling demand for compute needed to run artificial intelligence models.
## Public mood toward data centers is souring
The demonstration outside Google was one of a number of anti-data center protests across Europe last week.In Amsterdam, protesters scaled a crane at a Microsoft data center site and unfurled a banner.
## Local opposition was overwhelming
Google acquired the Thurrock site through a subsidiary in 2023 and applied for permission to build a data center campus in May last year.
## Google disputes the objections
Google says it will achieve net biodiversity gain by retaining habitat and transplanting endangered plants, and offset emissions by financing renewable energy generation to become carbon-neutral by 2030.

> We want to be good neighbors. We recognize the ecological value of these sites. Our goal is to minimize the impact as much as possible.
## Anti-data center movement wins some battles
In the US, some states have instituted permitting freezes and data center moratoria. In the UK, Foxglove recently succeeded in a legal challenge that forced the government to withdraw planning permission for a data center…
## Thurrock Council to rule early next year
Thurrock Council expects to rule on Google's initial planning application early next year.After that, the company will need to submit a more detailed plan subject to another lengthy vetting process.

> These planning campaigns can go on for years. It's a war of attrition.
## Key takeaway

Wildlife groups, environmental nonprofits and a motorcycle club are protesting Google's planned data center in Thurrock, citing habitat destruction, emissions and loss of a racing venue.