Campaigners delivered a near 55,000-name petition to Google's London headquarters on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, and said Google refused to accept it. The petition opposed Google’s Thurrock data centre plans.
Jamie Robins, Buglife programmes manager, said the petition makes it clear to Google that the Thurrock Data Centre plans are inappropriate and unwanted. He also said the proposal is the wrong place for a data centre and makes a mockery of Google's sustainability claims.
Thurrock Data Centre Plans
The petition was backed by Buglife and other environmental groups, which want Google to search elsewhere for the data centre campus. Campaigners say the proposed site at the former Arena Essex Raceway near Lakeside became a Local Wildlife Site in 2006 and supports hundreds of species across a 52-hectare area.
They say the site includes rare bees, butterflies, nightingales and endangered broad-leaved cudweed. Conservationists also say the development would destroy much of the wildlife site, including more than 80 per cent of its protected habitats, while the plans include up to four data-centre buildings covering 130,500 square metres and a separate office building.
Google's London headquarters
Emily Buttress said the loss would be devastating for the local area and would fragment the ecological network further, putting already-at-risk wildlife under an even greater threat. She also urged Google to listen to the 54,000 people who want the site to be a home for wildlife, not a data centre.
Google did not confirm or deny the campaigners' claim that staff refused the petition. In response, a Google spokesperson said data centres are vital to the UK, that Google is working to deliver critical infrastructure for the UK digital economy, and that it shares the Essex Wildlife Trust and Buglife view that development at the former Arena Essex site must be sustainable.
The spokesperson also said Google wants to regenerate the site, bring long-term investment and jobs to Thurrock, and take environmental responsibilities very seriously. Google said it is working closely with Natural England and ecological experts to guarantee a 10% biodiversity net gain, while preserving a substantial part of the site for new public open space, green links, retained habitat, and the long-term enhancement of key woodland corridors.
