A 169-unit council housing development in Kinsale will not need a full Environmental Impact Assessment Report to go ahead, despite major concerns from local environmentalists, the planning appeals board has ruled.

The new estate, accessed through the existing Ballinacubby estate road, would include 91 houses and 78 apartments along with a creche.

The project is the largest of its kind in the area in recent years and is to be made up of two-, three- and four-bedroom houses.

It would also include apartments with one, two or three bedrooms.

But concerns remain that more residential development on the edge of Kinsale could change the character of the area and add  pressure on local ecosystems.

Kinsale Forest Club, represented by Olivia Fitzgerald, had asked the planning authorities to rule that a full Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) was needed, arguing the project would cause serious damage to local wildlife and habitats.

In its submission to planners, the Forest Club said the developer’s own environmental impact screening pointed to negative impacts on existing habitats, plants and animals, including the loss of protected species, trees and hedgerows that provided bat roosts and nesting sites for birds.

The Forest Club, which runs nature-focused childcare and promotes outdoor education and environmental awareness, claimed the proposed measures to make up for biodiversity loss were inadequate.

It said that no proper assessment had been carried out on insects such as bees, butterflies and moths, or on mammals like red squirrels and wood mice.

The club also flagged polluted water heading to the Bandon River or Kinsale Harbour, also pointing out that the development would put a strain on the local wastewater plant.

Other concerns included a lack of detail on shifting 20,000 cubic metres of fill from the site, incomplete surveys that may have missed badger setts or hedgehog dens, wildlife checks that were not carried out in time, and the lack of a river or marine impact study.

An Bord Pleanála, which has since been replaced by An Coimisúin Pleanála, said it had looked at a number of factors before deciding no full Environmental Impact Assessment Report was needed for the housing project.

It said the project’s size and type fell well below the limits set out in existing planning legislation.

It added the site was on land already earmarked for homes and mixed uses in the Cork County Development Plan 2022-2028, which included its own environmental checks.

The board also took into account the overall scale of the plans, the nearby housing patterns, the concerns raised by Kinsale Forest Club, Cork County Council’s response, and advice from the planning inspector.

In her decision, planning commissioner Mary Gurrie wrote: ‘It is considered that the proposed development would not be likely to have significant effects on the environment and accordingly, that the preparation and submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment Report is therefore, not required.’