\u201cThese should not be in people\u2019s back gardens, and they essentially will be with the current plan,\u201d Griffiths said.\n<\/p>\n
Growing campaign<\/p>\n
The Naas campaign has grown in size over recent months, with Social Democrat councillor Chris Pender telling The Journal that he has counted \u201c392 individual emails\u201d in his inbox on Jigginstown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really taken off, and people are really driven and motivated by this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pender added that it has been spurred on by plans for a separate data centre nearby, which has also raised concerns.<\/p>\n
Dozens of protesters gathered outside Kildare County Council\u2019s offices on Monday evening as councillors discussed and eventually voted against the plan to change the zoning of the land.<\/p>\n
![\"829196376_1675412961261562_5102983483994655248_n\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790721130_200_.jpeg\")
\n Protesters in Naas on Monday Chris Pender<\/p>\n
Chris Pender\n<\/p>\n
The full breakdown of the vote has not been released, but following Monday\u2019s council meeting, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael issued a joint statement to convey their position, in which they acknowledged the \u201cscale\u201d of the campaign, saying it had \u201cmade it impossible\u201d for councillors to reply to every resident.<\/p>\n
They argued that any zoning decision undergoes \u201cextensive scrutiny\u201d, and that through this process \u201cno objections were received from statutory agencies such as Irish Water, energy regulator, etc, that the proposal within the Naas plan was flawed\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The councillors added that to overturn the decision at this stage would \u201cundermine\u201d the process and in turn would \u201cgive vulnerability\u201d to all decisions of zoning, while setting an \u201cunwarranted precedent\u201d in Kildare\u2019s zoning regime.<\/p>\n
Members of Independent Ireland, Sinn F\u00e9in and other representatives also voted in favour of residents\u2019 demands. The vote was defeated with 22 councillors voting against the motions, while 11 voted in favour and seven councillors abstained.<\/p>\n
What happens next<\/p>\n
Microsoft has yet to lodge a planning application but Griffiths said that when it does, it is likely to face \u201cmass objections\u201d.<\/p>\n
If the project overcomes hurdles at the local council and An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la level, locals may still launch a judicial review in the High Court.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, this measure has been complicated because the government changed the law around costs awarded in judicial review cases, capping the amount that can be paid even where a case is successful.<\/p>\n
This means that any campaign by residents would need to either fundraise heavily or dip into their own pockets to fund a High Court challenge.<\/p>\n
Griffiths said residents are well aware also that what they are fighting is also going against the policy direction of the government, which lifted a moratorium on data centre development earlier this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n