Special meeting to bring clarity to west Mayo greenway project
A SPECIAL meeting is to be held to bring clarity on how to deliver the greenway from Belclare in Westport out to Louisburgh and on to Roonagh Pier.
One local public representative admitted to being 'totally baffled' after hearing that Mayo County Council has not applied to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) for funding for the route.
Management explained that funding has been allocated for the design of the initial Belclare section, and no funding application can be made until a design and costing is in place.
The Belcare section has gone back to the drawing board as original plans do not meet new TII criteria - TII are now responsible for delivering greenways, not councils.
However, local councillors want to see a design done to deliver the entire route, not sections of it.
The issue was raised at the March Westport-Belmullet Municipal District meeting this week where Councillor Peter Flynn said they were told a month earlier that TII has not included the greenway in its plans.
Deputy Michael Ring subsequently submitted a parliamentary question and was told Mayo County Council has not submitted any funding application for Murrisk to Roonagh since September '21. TII is open to the inclusion of further greenways but has to receive a request from the council.
That, said Councillor Flynn, was a 'damning indictment' if it was true, and he requested clarification on what is happening with the greenway.
Cathaoirleach Councillor Christy Hyland confessed to being shocked at what he described as 'a right bombshell'.
This is one of the greatest job creating opportunities for the county and no application has gone in to TII, he commented. He was 'totally baffled'.
Director of services Catherine McConnell said the Regional Design Office, with TII, are taking over the design work. Funding has been allocated this year for the design stage, and you could not apply for further funding until that is done.
Without a design and costings she was not aware that you could apply for funding, and that may explain the situation.
She requested details of the correspondence to get a full response from the unit dealing with it.
Councillor Brendan Mulroy said they had been led up the garden path on this project. They had been told in Louisburgh it would be delivered.
Municipal district head Padraig Walsh said the minutes from their previous meeting showed members were told that TII would only provide funding once the project is ready to commence and the process includes the need for route planning as the first step.
TII have a step by step process, eight or nine stages, before construction. You can't apply for funding for construction without going through the necessary previous steps, he stated.
Councillor Flynn's requested a special meeting be held after Easter, featuring all the stakeholders, to get clarity on how to progress the route in its entirety from Belclare to Roonagh.
The Belclare to Murrisk section has gone back to design stage, but why were they not doing this for the entire route, he asked.
They have a one-off opportunity to get it done and put Mayo on the map, and their priority has to be getting the entire route back on the table and delivering it.