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An Bord Pleanála has granted permission for more than 600 apartments and houses on the site of the former Dún Laoghaire Golf Club against the recommendation of its senior planning inspector.

Cosgrave Developments has been given the green light for what is the second phase of scheme of almost 1,500 homes, most of them apartments of up to seven storeys in height, on the site.

The board's senior planning inspector Dermot Kelly, who dealt with the case, had recommended against granting permission for this second phase of development, but his recommendation was over-ruled by the board.

In his report Mr Kelly had said the large proportion of apartments proposed, more than 95 per cent of the scheme, constituted an "excessive concentration of apartments" on the site.

The height and scale of the apartments were "excessive" and would result in overdevelopment of the site, he said.

He also noted that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council intended to produce a local plan for the area and that allowing this scheme in advance of this statutory plan being agreed by the council would be premature.

In deciding to reject Mr Kelly's recommendation, the board said the proposed development was in line with the current zoning objectives and adhered to sustainability guidelines. It was therefore not premature to grant permission in the absence of a local area plan.

The need for efficient use of land justified a higher density of development at this location, and the high proportion of apartments in this phase of the development was considered acceptable, the board said. The height of the proposed development was also "generally acceptable", it said.

Construction of the first phase of the scheme, comprising some 848 apartments and houses, began last year. The first five houses are due to go on sale next month.