Dublin city councillors have rejected plans to rezone industrial land at a number of sites, cutting the potential for new homes by more than half.
Twenty plots of land were put forward for a change in use by management.
However concerns were raised by councillors that most would go straight to An Bord Pleanala, taking away the council's control.
Sixteen have been accepted, allowing for around 1,600 homes to be built. That's down from an original figure of around 3,500.
Independent councillor John Lyons has criticised the current planning system.
He says constituents don't feel it works for ordinary people who already live in the areas;
"It mutes their voices, it most certainly hampers elected representatives of Dublin city council having an opportunity to engage in the planning system and it seems to my mind that we have a planning system that is development led."
