Landowners ‘devastated’ at emerging preferred route for new Louth greenway

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

North Louth residents are “absolutely devastated” at the route which has been identified as the preferred option for the Dundalk-Carlingford Greenway, according to local councillors.

Landowners along the route began receiving letters on Tuesday morning advising them that they could be affected by Louth County Council plans to connect the greenway from Carlingford to Dundalk.

The emerging preferred route 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 largely around the Lordship area, where the proposed route could impact on a housing development.

Cllr. Antoin Watters said he had been inundated with calls from landowners on Tuesday morning.

“The detail is still emerging on this, but I know a lot of people are really concerned. At Lordship it’s a real worry for people, from what I can see initially, it is very close to the housing estate there.”

He added: "I have never had so many people reach out to me who are so upset. People just don’t need this on the mouth of Christmas. There was never going to be a great option for this, but people are just devastated.”

The proposal to track large parts of the greenway along the main road “might work”, he added, “if it is made safe, I would have no issue with that.”

"But the worst part is when people start to lose their gardens for this. Looking at it, the plan to go along the railway line from Carlingford towards Cooley Kickhams, why could it not run along the main road here too? It doesn’t make sense.”

Cllr. Andrea McKevitt said it had been “a restless night for many in the peninsula, and nobody wanted to see the postman coming to their door this morning with the dreaded letter to advise they own land along the emerging preferred route corridor.”

She added: “The route appears for the most part to be going along the old railway line, but based on the maps I have seen there are also routes down to Greenore and Templetown beach, these are very intrusive and will impact a large number of people.”

Landowners spent the day trying decipher the impact the emerging preferred route would have on them, said Cllr. McKevitt.

“But people are absolutely devastated, and many are just lost for words at present.”

She described the route identified as one which will “impact many households, businesses and landowners and in certain aspects many questions arise about the feasibility especially when we look at our local GAA clubs for example, where the routes run along pitches, through sheds, through businesses and gardens. There are many questions to be answered.”

A public meeting hosted by the ‘Protect The Peninsula’ group will take place on Thursday evening in Cooley Hall at 7:30pm.

Louth County Council held a briefing for elected representatives on Tuesday afternoon, to coincide with an interactive map going online which provides further details of the emerging preferred route option.