An Bord Pleanála has refused to grant an oral hearing for a 78-acre development on a golf course in south Dublin.
The planning authority has told objectors to the development at DúLaoghaire Golf Course that it did not warrant an oral hearing.
The board was due to make a decision on the development by February 21st, however, due to a backlog, it is understood the decision will be delayed.
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council gave Cosgrave Brothers permission to develop 856 homes on the southern section of the golf course. The developers plan to build 1,700 residential units on the entire site.
The plans also include a commercial centre at the entrance to the road, with a convenience store, cafe and shops at ground level and about 897sq m (9,655sq ft) of office space on two floors overhead. There are also proposals for a large creche at the centre of the development.
Residents had complained the proposed scheme was excessive and the area did not have the infrastructure to cope. They appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála last October and had hoped an oral hearing would be held to examine the plans.
In a letter to Green Party councillor, Gene Feighery, the board said the development was not a complex one and the appeal could be dealt with adequately through written procedure. It said oral hearings are only held if a development is of national or local significance.
Ms Feighery said the plan was definitely of significance. "It is the largest single development ever to take place in the Greater Dublin Area. It is the equivalent to parachuting the population of the town of Fermoy (3,000) into Dún Laoghaire with all of the infrastructural implications. If that is not a significant local issue, what is?"
