An Taisce has described elements of the latest round of the Government's Serviced Land Initiative as "planning driven by sewerage engineers".
Its heritage officer, Mr Ian Lumley, yesterday criticised proposals to expand the supply of houses by increasing the availability of serviced land as "flinging houses at a whole series of disparate locations without a sustainable planning strategy".
Approval for water and sewage schemes to service 31,000 additional housing units throughout the State was announced earlier this month by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Dempsey.
However, Mr Lumley claimed that without a national spatial strategy, developments proposed under the Serviced Land Initiative could be unsustainable and contrary to proper planning objectives.
An Taisce, in particular, has criticised plans to provide services for an additional 3,000 housing sites, almost one-tenth of the national total, in Edenderry, Co Offaly.
The planned housing could at least double the population of the town, which is estimated at 4,500. "It may well be that Edenderry has the capacity to absorb a couple of thousand extra houses, but only as part of a carefully co-ordinated strategy," he said.
He warned that in the absence of proper planning, this expansion would be "a fiasco" and would simply supply Edenderry with commuter housing for the greater Dublin area.
Mr Lumley stressed that housing should be planned to meet local needs and developed in conjunction with local employment opportunities and better community facilities.
An Taisce has also expressed concern at plans to provide 1,000 extra housing units at Castlemartyr, Co Cork.