The conservation body, An Taisce, has reiterated concerns that a Government scheme to encourage development in Co Longford will turn the county into a suburb for people working in Dublin.
However, the scheme will continue to be "a primary catalyst to attract investment" into the area, according to Co Longford's local authority.
Under the rural renewal scheme, counties Longford and Leitrim - along with large parts of counties Roscommon, Sligo and Cavan - are designated for lucrative tax incentives to encourage commercial, industrial and residential development to reverse the population decline.
In the last Budget, the rural renewal scheme was extended until the end of 2004, a decision welcomed by Longford County Council.
"The further extension of the tax scheme will allow for all the developments which have been granted to date to be completed," said Mr Donall MacAnbheatha, senior planner.
"Things were only beginning to happen when the downturn came in the international and national economy," he said.
Mr Frank Sheridan, director of community and enterprise with the council said: "In many ways Longford in the late 90s was a mirror image of Ireland in the 80s. Its economy was dominated by a declining agricultural sector with a small number of old-style industries which were closing down."
Mr Jonathan Quinn, property partner with Quinn Bros auctioneers in Longford, said the scheme had "created a lot of building in the town".
Whereas people commuting to Dublin would have previously looked only as far as Co Westmeath for homes, the scheme has "allowed them to look further", he said.
The total number of planning applications granted by the council and the urban council in Longford has risen by more than 60 per cent since 1997, from 406 in that year to 653 in 2000.
In the same period, the number of housing units granted rose from 324 to 1,707.
"This potential increase of 3,681 housing units, when combined with the current average household size of 3.2 persons per household, allows for a potential increase in population of approximately 11,779 persons," said a council spokesman.
However, the scheme is encouraging the wrong type of development, said Mr Ian Lumley, heritage officer of An Taisce.
"The paradox for Co Longford is that instead of using subsidies to allow rural areas to regenerate, they are, in fact, encouraging the building of suburbs for car commuters," he said.
This is happening in places such as Edgeworthstown, where development is taking place primarily for people who work in Mullingar or Dublin, he said.
It is "suburban commuter development", which contributes to urban sprawl and "doesn't contribute to the area", said Mr Lumley. According to the latest Irish Permanent House Price Index, compiled with the ESRI, the cheapest houses in the Republic are to be found in Longford, Mayo and Tipperary.