An appeal has been filed in the High Court against the South Dublin County Council’s decision to ban data centers being built in its functional area for the life of the 2022-2028 development plan.
Echelon DC Holdings Limited, which develops and owns the data center, has filed a lawsuit for judicial review.
The challenge came after a vote by elected members of the Council last June to amend the current development plan to ban the building of any more data centers within the functional area. I was.
In a motion put forward by the People Before Profit members of the Council, The council decided to ban the data center and designated it not to be allowed under any zoning on the grounds that the South Dublin area does not have the capacity to have more data centres.
Echelon, headed by Neil Steen SC, argues the ban is illegal and should be removed.
The ban violates national and regional policies regarding data centers, is argued to be unreasonable and unreasonable, and violates various constitutional rights.
Attorneys told the court that the amendment to the plan was opposed by the council’s chief executive. Unchanged from previous development plans, i.e. The data center should be listed as “under consideration”.
The Office of Planning Regulators also believes that the ban should not be included in development plans because it conflicts with regional policy objectives and spatial and economic strategies for the central and eastern regions.
The Court also ruled that the Minister of Local Government and Planning last minute Notify the Council to the Moon that the banning of data centers included in the plan may not be permitted.
This is because the ban is inconsistent with various national and regional policies and objectives promoting Ireland as a sustainable destination for data centers, and lacks a proper evidence base.
Ministers invited parties to submit their proposals before a final decision is taken.
Echelon, which develops, owns and operates data centers in various locations, argues that the ban, if left unchecked, will adversely affect its business in the South County Dublin area.
The company owns land in Clondalkin and Newcastle, Dublin, within the Council’s functional area, subject to planning permits for data center development. We also have plans to expand our data centers in these locations over time.
In that action, Echelon is seeking an order to reverse a June 22 council decision to designate data centers as “unauthorized” under the zoning purposes of its development plan.
It also seeks an order directing the council to designate data centers as “under consideration” under various zoning purposes included in the development plan.
It also seeks an order to void certain modifications made to the development plan, which Echelon says should be removed.
The lawsuit has been postponed until November.
