Naas Data Centres Right size. Right place.
Get involved

Four ways to help - pick whatever fits your time

You don't need to become a planning expert to make a difference here. A two-minute email carries real weight when enough people send one.

1. Email your councillor

Naas Municipal District councillors need to hear from residents before the September 2026 meeting. Find your councillor's email on Kildare County Council's councillor details page, then copy the template below (feel free to personalise it - a short note in your own words at the top makes it land harder).

Dear Councillor, I hope this email finds you well. As a resident in Naas, I am writing to ask for your support on an issue I believe is of real importance to the future sustainable development of Naas and its surrounding communities. I respectfully request that you: 1. Submit or support a motion at the September 2026 meeting of Naas Municipal District requesting that Kildare County Council commence a statutory variation of the Naas Local Area Plan to remove the existing "P - Data Centre" zoning at Jigginstown/Maudlins. 2. Publicly commit to opposing the designation of any further land for data centre use within Naas and its environs in future Local Area Plans or Development Plans. When the current Naas Local Area Plan was adopted in 2021, the planning, energy and climate context was significantly different from today. Electricity demand from data centres, grid capacity constraints, water supply resilience and Ireland's carbon budget obligations have all changed materially since then - I'd ask you to consider these genuine changes in circumstance, not simply a change in opinion. I don't believe this can wait for the next Local Area Plan review in 2027. If a planning application is lodged on this zoning before then, our reading of how P1 (Herbata) played out is that it becomes almost impossible to stop - a well-resourced applicant and a site already zoned exclusively for data centre use tend to end in a grant, whatever the objections. Removing the zoning now, before an application exists, is the only point in the process where this is genuinely still an open question. I would appreciate written confirmation that you've received this email, and I'd be grateful to know your position on these two requests and whether you intend to support and speak on them. Thank you for taking the time to consider this. Yours sincerely, [Your name]

This template states your own request and opinion, which is fine to personalise freely. For the sourced facts behind it, see The Facts, For Councillors, and The Climate Act, Explained.

2. Make a planning submission (if/when P2 gets an application)

No application has been lodged for P2 yet. If one is, there's a statutory public consultation window (typically five weeks) during which anyone can make a written submission to Kildare County Council for a small fee. We'll publish a plain-language guide and update this page the moment we see an application register.

Watching for a P2 application is one of the most useful things you can do - see P2 & The Ask for current status.

3. Share this site

Point people here - on social media, in your Residents Association WhatsApp group, or by pointing at a poster QR code. The more people who understand what's proposed before an application lands, the stronger the case for rezoning now.

4. Contact your TD on the national picture

Data centre policy - including the proposed "Private Wires" legislation - is being debated nationally as well as locally. If you want to raise the national angle with your TD, Friends of the Earth Ireland maintain template scripts and contact information as part of their ongoing campaign work.