An Bord Pleanála has turned down a planning application from the Port of Cork to develop a €160 million container terminal at Ringaskiddy in Cork Harbour.
The planning body had had received several hundred written submissions against the project amid objections by a number of groups and people living in the lower harbour.
An Bord Pleanála said the main reasons for its decision were the inadequacy of the supporting road network, the potential traffic congestion in three roundabouts in the area, and the lack of a rail infrastructure.
The application was made under the Strategic Infrastructure Act and led to an oral hearing that ran for 15 days in Cork in April when planning board inspector Paul Caprani heard submissions from 56 witnesses.
The proposal envisaged the development by the Port of Cork of a new container terminal and a roll on/roll off berth on 37 hectares at Oyster Bank in Ringaskiddy, and the reclamation of 18 hectares of land from the sea.
The Port of Cork submitted at the hearing that the move was necessary to allow the port to facilitate larger container ships and more frequent services, which are not possible due to the narrowness and depth of the channel at the Tivoli terminal.
However, the Cork Harbour Environmental Protection Association argued that Marino Point on the other side of the harbour was more suitable given the presence of a rail link.