Dundalk-Carlingford Greenway plans trigger huge reaction with 570 submissions to council
Almost 600 submissions have been made to Louth County Council as part of the Public Consultation Phase 3 ‘of the Dundalk Bay–Carlingford Greenway, councillors have been told.
The figure was confirmed at the March meeting of Dundalk Municipal District, where Cllr. Andrea McKevitt asked officials how many submissions had been received once the consultation period closed.
She also queried how the local authority intends to respond to those who took part, and whether this will be done individually or in line with approaches taken during previous consultation phases.
Senior Engineer John O’Hagan told members that approximately 570 submissions were received in total. Of these, around 310 were submitted by email, 240 through the online portal, and roughly 20 were sent in hard-copy format.
He noted that the council is still working through the material as a number of the submissions were duplicates. The length of time needed to advance the project will depend on the volume of material being reviewed, he said.
The local authority, which is leading the development of the greenway project, will consider all submissions before providing an update to councillors. Once the review is complete, officials will determine whether any “material changes” to the emerging preferred route are required.
Mr O’Hagan added that the next major step—the options route selection report—could extend to around 600 pages once finalised.
The current emerging preferred route, published in November last, indicates a potential greenway path which runs close to the old railway line and then moves towards the main road connecting Dundalk to the Cooley Peninsula. It would end at the Ballymascanlon roundabout and head left towards the Racecourse Road in Dundalk.
Concerns have been raised around the Lordship area, where the proposed route could impact on a housing development.