Mayo County Council should pause Westport to Louisburgh Greenway and focus elsewhere

Comment & Analysis: Resources are not infinite, and councils can only focus on so much at once. Given the level of opposition to the Westport to Murrisk Greenway, Mayo County Council should pause the Westport to Murrisk/Louisburgh Greenway project and focus on other parts of the county.

Last year, this website reported how if an inland greenway route from Westport to Murrisk goes ahead, there was the threat from one local councillor that “you will never see a war in Ukraine like it”.

Since then, the majority of local councillors have dug their heels in and have buried their heads in the sand to the warnings given by Cllr Peter Flynn (Fine Gael), who supports the project.

Cllr Flynn’s warnings have now turned to fatalism.

This week, a local newspaper, the Mayo News, reported him as saying: “It’s important that the message goes out that the greenway is dead… think it is regrettable for west Mayo and the whole of Clew Bay that the likes of Murrisk, Lecanvey, Kilsallagh, Louisburgh and the islands are going to be at a loss.”

He added: “I think it will be a huge mistake and will be retrospective and the worst decision that we have made as local councillors in all my 20 years as a councillor. It is time to stop the rhetoric and if it is not going to happen it is time to tell the people it won’t happen,”

The obsession with fitting the greenway along the main road isn’t going away. The opponents to the inland route are looking for a public inquiry about the issue despite it being explained repeatedly.

Local media are not helping matters in propping up a charade that a Freedom of Information request by the opponents revealed much news — it was already out in the open that the council were working on the route along the road and why it was abandoned.

The opposition to the current project will also not accept the reality that a high-quality walking and cycling route along the road would have to eat into private property just as much as the inland route.

I could go on about the details, but the issue has been turned too toxic for too long. A resolution is not likely anytime soon. The lack of obvious community support and only support from one local council means the council officials are on solid grounds if they choose to shelve the project.

Other proposed greenways in the county have greater community support. A key project for the council is the Westport-Castlebar-Ballina Greenway, and it has significant local support in at least Pontoon, Knockmore and Ballina, and I’m sure there would be support in Westport and Castlebar too.

There will always be some level of opposition to projects, but having significant community support along the route is important, especially to show councillors there’s not just opposition but also to help tackle the misinformation that has been so strong on the Murrisk project.

Disclosure: I live in Ballina, so there’s a conflict of interest regarding me making this call. However, as well as the level of support for projects, there’s solid reasoning for diverting the council’s attention to another part of the county.

Different sections of the greenway between the county’s three largest towns have not just a larger tourism potential but also a far higher commuting and local recreational potential than the Westport to Louisburgh route.

That’s not to say that everybody commuting between Ballina to Castlebar is going to hop on their bikes, but it would offer an alternative option for people travelling between, say, Knockmore and Ballina or from Ballina to Rehins National School or the Great National Hotel Ballina which are both just about 1km outside of the urban area of the town.

It would make it a lot safer for the people who are already trying to walk or cycle in many of the areas along the overall route, which have few options for safe walking and cycling besides some dead-end back roads.

And while there seems to be greater support for the Westport-Castlebar-Ballina project, the people who support the project may have to keep an open mind about what route can be delivered within some type of reasonable timeframe.

The public, the council and other authorities should be open to looking at forming the greenway route by using a mix of options, even more so than usual.

That could include shared paths along roads (such as the R310 in Knockmore, which is an obvious choice), sections of quiet roads which might need an extra bit of traffic claiming, joining up with forestry and bog roads, and authorities even be open to looking at using sections of Irish Rail’s lands along the Ballina branch line.

Both open minds and innovation are needed, but using private lands also cannot be off the cards. Even with all of the innovations in the world, private land will still need to be used for most routes to provide a high-quality route. The health, safety and tourism benefits are worth it.

2 thoughts on “Mayo County Council should pause Westport to Louisburgh Greenway and focus elsewhere”

  1. That’s a shame it’s being abandoned but I’m pleased to hear you calling for a mixed route.greenways are great but sometimes a bit monotonous

    Reply

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