The ESB has been refused permission by An Bord Pleanála for a 27 metre communications mast on the Dublin-Wicklow border near Bray, on the grounds that it would be too high and too close to houses.
In his report, planning board inspector Paddy Keogh noted that a previous application by the ESB for a 27m mast at the site had been rejected by the board in 2004. There had been no change in circumstances which would be likely to make the board reconsider this decision, he said.
The application for the mast at the ESB substation at Old Connaught Avenue, Little Bray, Co Dublin, was rejected earlier this year by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council on the grounds of its "height, design, location and proximity to existing residential sites".
The ESB appeal to An Bord Pleanála was made partly on the grounds that it intended to share the structure with mobile phone service provider Hutchinson 3G.
That company had been granted planning permission for a mast at nearby Old Conna Golf Club, but members of the club subsequently withdrew their support for the project and it could not go ahead.
Appeals against the ESB project were made by local residents group Old Connaught and Districts Community Association and by individual residents.
In his report, Mr Keogh said that the mast "might reasonably be regarded as compromising the optimal development of the lands now zoned for residential development".
He added that while the use of the mast by another provider was in keeping with guidelines on the location of masts, this did not compensate for the fact that the site was unsuitable.
