A group of Vulcan County residents are adding themselves to a growing list of Albertans opposing artificial intelligence data centres in their region. The latest proposal for a centre is on a slice of land about 180 kilometres southeast of Calgary. It runs adjacent to the Travers Reservoir, just over the hill from the Southern Alberta Bible Camp and lakeside community Little Bow Resort. Full and part-time residents of the latter area are up in arms about the possibility. “It’s completely the wrong location for such a massive AI data centre,” Sylvia Farrant told CTV News. “There’s environmental and irrigation (concerns), cows, crops. And there’s only one access road in and out, so it’s dangerous.” “At first, I wasn’t opposed to it,” homeowner Patrick Whyte added. “But then I started doing some research. This is an irrigation canal we live on, so I’m worried about water levels.” Neighbour Wayne Brown agrees. “Water, noise, light pollution, extra traffic…we just don’t want it.” Nothing has been approved yet, but community members have already taken exception to the process. In June, Vulcan County council voted in favour of rezoning the 350 hectares for a future industrial development. But over two meetings that discussed the issue, public opinion was decidedly turned in the opposite direction. “The only three people who spoke in favour were the proponent, his father and his brother-in-law,” Farrant said. “Everyone else said ‘this is the wrong location.’” “It just seems like they made their decision before the hearing.” The county reeve points out that no development permit has crossed his desk yet, so it’s “too early” to get upset with the proposal. “Anything commercial and industrial does have to go through a pretty robust process, and that’s where the adjacent neighbours and the people in the neighbourhood get those answers,” Jason Schneider told CTV News. He’s hoping all the concerns are addressed when the land owner takes the next step. But still, Schneider isn’t opposed to the general idea. “As a municipality, we’re open for business,” he said. “That’s what we’ve done with every industry.” His response has Little Bow Resort residents convinced it’s just a matter of time before the centre is under construction. “At the end of the day, it’s a business,” Whyte said. “The County of Vulcan is a business (too), and they’ll get to collect a lot of extra taxes. It’s a revenue stream.” To fight back, a group of those residents is now requesting a judicial review of council’s decision. They’re asking Alberta courts to quash the rezoning and require any future consideration of the proposal “occur through a lawful, transparent, and procedurally fair process.” CTV News reached out to land owner and proponent Eric Steeves for more information about the potential development, but Steeves did not immediately reply.
