An Bord Pleanála has rejected an application to build a 150-bedroom hotel on the green belt between Baldoyle and Portmarnock in Dublin.
Ballymore Residential Ltd had been given permission by Fingal County Council to build a four-storey hotel on a 3.75-hectare site at Maynetown, Baldoyle.
The proposal included three storeys of bedrooms, a rooftop restaurant, a two-storey sports centre with indoor swimming pool and other sports facilities.
The site, close to a Natural Heritage Area and flood plain, is zoned for open space in the 2005 Fingal development plan, and locals had expected it would become part of a promised park.
Previous attempts to rezone the green belt had been rejected by councillors.
An Bord Pleanála ruled that under the OS zoning, which seeks "to preserve and provide for open space and recreational amenities", hotel use is neither listed as permitted nor open for consideration, and only community facilities and other recreational uses should be considered. "The proposed hotel and leisure complex would contravene the zoning objective for the area," it said.
Local Green Party councillor David Healy said: "This is a victory in the latest battle for the protection of the green belt between Baldoyle and Portmarnock."
