An Bord Pleanála has turned down permission for a west Cork holiday home development after appeals by An Taisce and the filmmaker Neil Jordan.
The board found the proposal for 68 holiday homes for short-term letting, with swimming pool, restaurant and bar at Cappaghavuckee, on the Berehaven Channel at "a relatively unspoilt stretch of coastline", would be conspicuous from the channel between the mainland and Bere Island.
By reason of its scale, form and bulk, the holiday home development would "constitute a visually obtrusive feature in this relatively unspoilt scenic landscape", the board found.
The site was in a scenic, rural area, remote from the built-up area of Castletownbere, the board also said. The proposal was also against the policy of the county development plan for the west Cork area, which seeks to direct tourist facilities and accommodation into existing developments, it found.
An Taisce has now called for "effective planning policies to protect the remaining unspoilt areas of Cork's coastline, while at the same time sustaining local housing and development needs, including tourism development". An Taisce spokesman, Mr Ian Lumley, said the decision followed a refusal in recent weeks of a plan for two houses adjoining a candidate conservation area near the coast at Castle Freke.