An Bord Pleanala has still to make a decision on a planning application for houses and apartments on a site in Westmeath that conservation groups consider an important habitat for the corncrake and other wintering birds.
The authority has written to three appellants in the past week, seeking further submissions.
The application by Mr Noel Heavey for a development at Lower Dock, Big Meadow, close to Athlone town, was approved by Athlone Urban District Council late last year.
Duchas, the heritage service, initially objected to the application but later withdrew its objection after a review of the area found the site was not, as had been believed, part of a Special Protection Area (SPA) designation for wildlife and bird habitats.
Three subsequent appeals to An Bord Pleanala, were lodged in December 2000. The appellants were: BirdWatch Ireland; conservationist Mr Peter Sweetman; and Mr James P. Shannon, whose property is close to the site where the houses are to be built.
Last week, An Bord Pleanala asked the appellants for further submissions.
Ms Catherine Casey, of BirdWatch Ireland, said the matter came down to a "scientific difference of opinion" on whether the area was a suitable habitat for birds.
BirdWatch was of the opinion that the area in question, which technically adjoins an SPA although it is not designated as such, was an important habitat for the corncrake and other birds.
Moving a large number of people into the area would also have an effect on the birds, she said.
The "mitigation" procedures suggested by Duchas were not adequate to protect the birds, she claimed. These included building a wall between the designated area and the non-designated area.
Mr Shannon, said the area in question, part of the Shannon-Callows (Middle Shannon) SPA, was very flat and had flooded every year.
It was "impossible" to get farm machinery in and, consequently, farmers had to wait until late July and early August to carry out cutting on the land.
An Oireachtas subcommittee investigating the flooding of the Shannon basin had recommended planning permission not be given to areas subjected to flooding, Mr Shannon said. He had used this information in his submission to An Bord Pleanala, including photographs of the flooding in the area, he said.
A spokesman for An Bord Pleanala said the file on the matter was not available until after the board had made its decision.
Duchas did not respond to a request for information on the reason for the withdrawal of its objection to the planning application.
A spokesman for Mr Heavey, the developer, said he did not feel it was appropriate to comment pending adjudication of the matter by An Bord Pleanala.