Controversial Cork-Kinsale Greenway plan draws a massive 2,000 public submissions

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Cork County Council has received 2,000 submissions from the public consultative phase of the proposed Cork city to Kinsale greenway. The controversial project has faced growing opposition from landowners along the route.

Cork County Council’s Chief Executive Moira Murrell told councillors at this week’s full council meeting that the local authority will now go through the submissions before reverting to the council and the local municipal districts (MDs) on the next steps. She reiterated the council’s support for greenways.

"We've seen fantastic, absolutely transformative greenways and active travel schemes being brought in across the county. You will know here in the chamber some of them have been difficult to negotiate and some of them have been less so depending on where they are and what the nature of the scheme is,” she said.

“But in all cases I need to acknowledge there has been agreement with the landowners. So that's our approach and that's how we do our business.”

Council official Padraig Barrett said that the local authority will have “an awful lot of work to do” to go through all of the submissions.

“We will go through those in detail. I want to reassure everybody that their submissions will be taken on board. We will go through those and we will see what the way forward will be, and we'll come back to the MDs thereafter,” he said.

Cllr Gillian Coughlan had put forward a motion at the meeting calling on the council to review the emerging preferred route in consultation with landowners so as to minimize its impact.

“We wouldn't place a greenway through a shopping centre. We cannot, therefore, place a greenway through somebody's business. And that's why it has to be in consultation with landowners so as to minimise the material impact on agriculture and agricultural and private holdings. These farms are businesses and the owners of these businesses need to be respected and consulted with,” she said.

Cllr Coughlan said that any greenway route should proceed in increments with “painstaking groundwork” beforehand and the maximum use of public rather than private land.

Chief Executive Murrell said she will talk with her officials and the chairs of the MDs about meeting a delegation of locals.

Landowners are worried that Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) will be used to secure land for the greenway. At a previous council meeting Cllr John Collins said CPOs “have to be taken off the table. You can’t sit down with people to negotiate something and have in your back pocket a CPO.”