The Bluestone project is expected to bring 600 jobs

The National Parks watchdog has said this week's decision not to call in the plans for the Bluestone development sets a dangerous precedent.

Backers of the �45m all-weather leisure village, which is set to be built within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, say it will create 600 full-time jobs.

But opponents fear it will damage the local environment, and warn they could launch a legal challenge if the National Park Authority (NPA) approves the scheme at a meeting later this month.

This week, the assembly government said the application did not involve any issues which warranted taking the decision away from the NPA.

But Ruth Chambers, the head of policy at the Council for National Parks, described the decision as "deeply disappointing".

She said the plans for a brand new holiday village were "without precedent in any of the national parks in England or Wales" and would cause "huge damage" to the park.

Bluestone supporters have backed the scheme

"For those reasons, we would have expected the Welsh assembly to get involved and really start to exercise its responsibilities to protect the national park landscape," she said.

"People are concerned about either the damage that would be caused to the national park and the precedent this is going to set for other large developments in national parks,"

"We are left wondering, if the assembly doesn't get involved over Bluestone, when is it ever going to get involved in a planning issue?"

She added that a legal action could seriously affect the project's chances of being built.

"Several concerned parties are considering a challenge in the courts to any planning approval which could mean that any development would be unlikely to start for some time, if ever," she said.

William McNamara, chief executive of the Bluestone, had hoped work would start on site near Narberth in 2004, allowing the 340 cabin village to open in late 2005.

Local AM Christine Gwyther supports the project, and has called for its opponents to work with it to make sure the environment does not suffer.

The National Parks Authority is due to rule on whether to allow the scheme to go ahead in a meeting on 28 January.