The Northern Ireland Environment Minister was criticised yesterday after refusing planning permission for a £35 million marina and housing development in Co Down which would have created hundreds of jobs.
Ms Angela Smith turned down on environmental grounds the application to build a 140-berth marina and associated buildings and 335 residential units at Killyleagh on the shores of Strangford Lough.
Ms Smith said she was aware that the proposed Gocean Lodge project was an issue which had generated much debate and she had listened to arguments for and against.
But she said: "In the end the critical determining factors were the impact the proposed development would have on the important, internationally recognised interests of Strangford Lough and its valuable coastal environment, on archaeological aspects of the site and on the high-quality landscape and scenic setting of Killyleagh village itself, which is an important conservation area."
Ms Smith said she was aware some would be pleased with her decision and others disappointed.
"I firmly believe that it has been reached with the ultimate aim of benefiting everyone in the long term," she said.
The DUP MP for the area, Ms Iris Robinson, said she was "absolutely shocked, angered and deeply saddened" by the decision. The refusal would come as a major blow to the local community which, she said, largely supported the development and the jobs and prosperity it would have brought to Killyleagh.
Ms Robinson said she presumed the developer would appeal the decision, and he would have her full support in overturning the decision.
An Alliance Assembly member, Mr Kieran McCarthy, said the decision was hugely disappointing news for Strangford.
"After the loss of so many jobs in the constituency recently, people were very anxious that the marina got the go-ahead," he said.
"This decision represents a blow to future employment and a further loss to our local economy. I recognise that there are environmental concerns, but they could have been dealt with adequately".
Lord Kilclooney, the Ulster Unionist Assembly member for the constituency, said the Minister's decision was "outrageous".
It had all-party support and general support within the local community, he said.
"This English Minister, Angela Smith MP, is here today and away tomorrow. She has no long-term interest in Killyleagh."
He was confident that if there was an Assembly at Stormont the development would have been approved.
"In recent years Killyleagh has lost hundreds of manufacturing jobs and now it has been denied millions of pounds of investment and hundreds of new jobs by a Minister who is unanswerable to the local community for her decision. They simply have now to suffer for her decision." - (PA)