A developer is to seek a meeting with Cork County Council with a view to submitting revised plans for a €200 million housing project on the outskirts of Cork city after An Bord Pleanála it refused permission.
Michael O'Flynn, managing director of O'Flynn Construction, was refused permission to build nearly 600 houses at Dunkettle, near Glanmire, because of the inadequate road network in the area.
An Bord Pleanála said permission for the proposed development would be premature pending the planning of a road layout for the area, which is just off the Glanmire bypass on the main Cork-Dublin road.
The development would be particularly premature before a decision was made on the layout and improvements to the Dunkettle interchange near the Jack Lynch Tunnel and would contribute to congestion, the planning board said.
Mr O'Flynn said he was disappointed with the refusal but the company would submit a revised plan.
"The main reasons for refusal, the inadequacy of the road network, is outside our control and has major implications for the implementation of the Cork area strategic plan for the development of east Cork, especially for Carrigtwohill and Midleton," he said.
The board's decision follows a hearing in February where O'Flynn Construction appealed the council's refusal of planning permission for the project on a 63.8 hectare site at Dunkettle.
The company had originally applied to build 629 residential units but in May 2005 the council set the limit at 527.
At the oral hearing in February, the company proposed a compromise plan to build 591 dwellings. But now the board has refused permission for the development.
Cork county manager Maurice Moloney said the council's decision to grant planning permission for 527 houses was taken only after a traffic impact assessment was carried out.
That permission was subject to a number of conditions relating to required road improvements.
These improvements included a link from the development to the proposed park-and-ride at Dunkettle and O'Flynn Construction was required to make appropriate financial contributions to the cost of these works, he said.
Mr Moloney said the entire proposed development of the Dunkettle lands could not be carried out before the necessary road improvements were complete.
He said that given that the roads issue raised by An Bord Pleanála related specifically to the immediate area, Mr O'Flynn's request for a meeting "will be arranged in the context of normal pre-planning discussions".
The proposal by O'Flynn Construction also included plans to build an equestrian centre and a retail outlet adjoining the protected Dunkathel House and a garden centre, but these were deemed unacceptable and inappropriate by An Bord Pleanála.
Among the third parties to the appeal was Glounthaune Community Association.
It has welcomed the decision, particularly the planning board's concerns that the project would have provided insufficient facilities while affecting the area's amenities.
"This is a watershed decision for all communities in Cork in their stand against unsustainable suburbanisation," said an association spokeswoman.
"We are not anti-development," she added, "but we're encouraged by this decision in continuing our efforts to consult and work with developers and the planning authority and are happy to participate in any future consultation process."