A claim that a three-storey apartment block would turn a north Connemara village into a "student campus" was made to An Bord Pleanála by a group of local people opposed to the project.
The planning appeals board, however, has rejected the appeal against the decision of Galway County Council to grant planning permission for 19 student residential units, together with a caretaker's office, retail unit and café/restaurant in Letterfrack, 10 miles east of Clifden, Co Galway.
The apartment block is planned by businessman Mr Rory Corbett to provide accommodation for exclusively male students, aged between 18 and 24, attending Letterfrack Furniture College which is located within the former Letterfrack Industrial School which dates from the 19th century.
Objectors to the development argued that the apartment block was unsuitable for such a small village; that the proposed sewerage treatment works were inappropriate; that the development did not constitute sustainable development and that it would give rise to parking problems.
An Bord Pleanála inspector Mr Paul Caprani granted planning permission for the development subject to 18 conditions.
Mr Caprani said he considered the site, which is currently vacant and overgrown, to be very suitable for development. It would have a largely positive impact on views of Letterfrack village from vantage points within Connemara National Park, he added.