Kildare Microsoft data centre faces local opposition

PLANS for a new Microsoft data centre campus in Naas are facing renewed local opposition, with a Naas councillor preparing to bring a motion seeking the removal of the site's data centre zoning before a planning application is lodged.

Microsoft first confirmed in 2023 that it was at an early stage of developing plans for a new data centre campus near Jigginstown, Naas. The site, known locally as "P2", had been specifically earmarked for data centre use by Kildare County Council as part of the Naas Local Area Plan 2021-2027.

However, more than three years later, no planning application has been submitted for the proposed Microsoft development.

Mayor of Naas Municipal District, Cllr Bill Clear, said pressure is now building from residents and campaigners who want the land to be de-zoned before an application is made.

The 54.55-hectare site backs onto Primrose Garden and has carried an exclusive "P - Data Centre" zoning since the local area plan was adopted. Campaigners have said the site is around seven times the area of Croke Park's stadium footprint and is larger than a neighbouring site where a separate data centre development has already received planning permission.

Campaigners are calling on Naas Municipal District councillors to seek a statutory variation of the local area plan to remove the data centre zoning from the Jigginstown/Maudlins site.

They want councillors to submit or support a motion at the September 2026 Naas Municipal District meeting requesting that Kildare County Council begin the statutory process.

They are also asking councillors to publicly commit to opposing the designation of any further land for data centre use in Naas and its environs in future local area plans or development plans, unless there is compelling new evidence to support such a move.

The campaign argues that the circumstances surrounding data centres have changed significantly since the land was zoned in 2021.

The group points to the growth in electricity consumption from data centres, saying they now account for 23% of Ireland's metered electricity, compared with 5 per cent in 2015. 

It also points to tighter policy from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities on new data centre grid connections, citing concerns about security of electricity supply, as well as Ireland's increasingly restrictive carbon budgets.

"We want to be clear that this isn't an anti-technology campaign," said Sorcha O'Neill, a spokesperson for the campaign.

"We're not against data centres as such. We're against a development of this scale, this close to people's homes, on land that could support a broader range of employment uses with less strain on water, gas and the electricity grid."

The campaign has said that removing the zoning would not prevent development on the site, but would allow the council to consider a broader range of potential uses rather than effectively reserving the land for a single high-impact use.

"The lesson from P1 is that once land is zoned exclusively for one use, the principle of that development is treated as already decided," Ms O'Neill said.

Kildare County Council granted planning permission in August 2025 for a separate six-building, gas-powered data centre campus on the neighbouring site, known as "P1".

That decision was opposed by An Taisce, Friends of the Earth Ireland, Friends of the Irish Environment, Newhall Residents Group and individual local residents. The decision is currently under appeal to An Bord Pleanála, with appeals lodged by both the developer and third-party objectors.

According to the campaign group, the council's planning report on the P1 proposal said there was no alternative use to consider because the site's zoning effectively ruled other options out.

Ms O'Neill said this was the reason the group wanted to act before any application is lodged for P2.

"Every objection could only argue about design details, not about whether a data centre belonged there at all," she said.

"That's why we're focused on changing the zoning for P2 now, while there's still time - not on fighting an application after it's already been lodged."

Cllr Clear said he intends to bring a motion at an upcoming Naas Municipal District meeting seeking to de-zone the Microsoft site. However, he expressed doubts that a municipal district motion would be capable of reversing the zoning.

"I will do it, but it will not work," he said, describing the planning process as complex and saying he had sought advice from three separate sources, including a legal planner, a planner and a private planning consultant.

According to cllr Clear, the proposed change would have to go through the appropriate statutory planning process and could ultimately require action at county level.

He said campaigners had been given information suggesting that a motion at municipal district level could remove the zoning, but argued that the situation was more complicated because of how the original zoning was approved.

The land was zoned for data centre development under Kildare's 2021 Local Area Plan. However, because the wider area involved crosses into Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District, cllr Clear said the original zoning decision required consideration by the full county council rather than only councillors representing the immediate Naas area.

Campaigners are now seeking a reversal of that zoning, which will require councillors from both municipal districts to consider the issue.

Cllr Clear said he was "on the fence" about data centres generally, acknowledging their potential benefits while questioning the scale of their expansion.

He said data centres could have clear applications in areas such as medicine and other essential services, but questioned whether all of the demand being generated was equally valuable.

"I do think that we've got an overproliferation of them," he said.

The Microsoft proposal has also prompted questions locally about its potential proximity to residential areas and possible noise impacts.

Cllr Clear said he planned to visit an existing data centre to see its operation and noise levels for himself, and intended to invite some of those who have raised concerns to accompany him.

For now, however, the proposed Jigginstown development remains at the zoning stage, with no planning application lodged.

The next significant development is expected to be the motion seeking to revisit the site's zoning at the Naas Municipal District meeting in September.