The former Fianna Fail TD and general election candidate was addressing a public meeting in Ballinrobe where plans for a high-profile mixeduse development were last year rejected by the county council. Sloyd Enterprises Ltd had applied for planning permission to construct a 60bed hotel along with holiday apartments, a gym, leisure centre, swimming pool, a three-screen cinema, retail units and offices near Bowgate Street in a part of the town known locally as Cranmore.

The developers appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala which upheld the planning authority's decision to oppose the project stating that "the proposed development by its very scale would result in significant additional levels of traffic being discharged on to the N84" and that it would "significantly reduce the capacity of the road and endanger public safety."

"People are coming into the town of Ballinrobe, but unfortunately they are not staying as there is nowhere for them to stay, " Flynn said.

"The need for a by-pass has been raised and it is obvious that infrastructure influences everything. This issue existed prior to an application being lodged and it is outrageous of Mayo County Council to allow expectations to be raised for an application that was obviously never going to take-off. It is just not good enough."

Three years ago Beverley Flynn, daughter of former European Commissioner Padraig Flynn, parted ways with Fianna Fail and became an independent TD.

"It's true that the cost involved in making a planning application is huge, " says local Fine Gael county councillor, Patsy O'Brien. "And the developer in question certainly put a lot of money into the project. It's wrong and it doesn't make sense. But the reality is, we've got a chicken and egg situation here. To get a definitive response to any proposal it's necessary to formally lodge a planning application. Pre-planning will only provide you with guidelines.

At the end of the day something concrete has to be put on the table for discussion."

"This particular commercial development was a very impressive proposal. It was a 60m project and in reality it amounted to a town within a town. It's a huge disappointment to local people that it's been turned down. We're crying out here in Ballinrobe for something on this scale.

"At the same time it should be remembered that planning permission was previously granted for two separate hotel projects in the town, neither of which were built because the investors didn't come up with the financial backing. But this seems to have been a development which would have worked out. All the concerns raised in relation to the project had to do with the N84 which runs through the town.

Unfortunately we seem to be way down the National Roads Authority's list as far as plans for a bypass of Ballinrobe are concerned."