Alternative route for Mayo greenway could cost €200m and involve CPOs of over 40 homes
The Belclare to Murrisk Greenway continues to be a divisive topic in west Mayo.
The potential development has sparked many heated and passionate debates among local councillors, landowners, and residents over the last two years.
While there is broad agreement that the Greenway should go ahead, sharp disagreements persist over which route it should take.
The current preferred route would take the Greenway off-road from Aughavale Cemetery, past the Killadangan Lakes and Old Burial Ground, before linking with the Croagh Patrick path. This route is estmated to cost between €30m to €40m.
Under current TII rules, a Greenway can only be funded if the land on which it will be developed is state owned.
If landowners don't want to sell, the council can step in and use a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to acquire it.
There have been protests by landowners whose land would be affected if the Greenway went along the preferred route, and councillors have previously warned there "will be war" if CPOs are used to acquire land.
The alternative route favoured by some councillors and locals would see it developed alongside the main R335 road to Louisburgh.
However, the latest meeting of the Westport and Belmullet Municipal District heard that the cost of upgrading the R335 to develop the Greenway along it could cost somewhere in the region of €200m.
Cllr John O'Malley favours the R335 route; he has voiced his concerns for landowners and farmers who live along the preferred route whose land would be affected by the Greenway.
"I don't think it's right for anyone to try and take from farmers what their fathers and their grandfathers worked on and never sold a bit of," he said, highlighting the emotional and generational ties many farmers have to their land.
"If someone goes up through that land, I have a vision of what's going to happen, and it's not going to be nice. I don't want to see that happening, I am begging you, please go out on the road with your Greenway," he added.
Echoed calls for TII to ease Greenway regulations
Other councillors agreed with Cllr O’Malley and also called on TII to relax its Greenway design standards.
They argued that if TII relaxed the current width requirements, it would make a road-adjacent Greenway route along the R335 more feasible.
Cllr Chris Maxwell has called for an upgrade of the R335 on many occasions. Describing it as being in a terrible state, he said that residents approach him daily asking when the upgrade will happen.
He argues that the Greenway should run alongside the road and has called for both the upgrade and the Greenway projects to be carried out together by TII.
He added that TII could relax its specifications to allow for the R335 Greenway, saying: "We don't want superspecs, we want a little Greenway."
These calls echoed recent remarks by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who told the Dáil earlier this month that TII should "ease up on the spec" when it comes to using CPOs for Greenway projects.
The Taoiseach warned that once a project enters the CPO process, "you're in trouble in terms of any Greenway".
Officials from the Mayo National Roads Office told councillors that, under the current TII specifications, it is not feasible to develop the Greenway along the R335.
They also warned that doing so would cost in the region of €200 million and require the compulsory purchase of 44 homes.
Senior Executive Engineer Paul Hyland stressed that the route would have a significant impact on around 200 residential properties, estimating that acquisition costs alone could range between €20m and €30m.
Mr Hyland stressed that his office does not take decisions on route selection lightly.
"We make them based on science and facts and the impacts that would arise if we were to upgrade the road," he said.
He informed councillors that his team must work within the specifications of TII and adhere to the standards set by the state agency, but stressed that council engineers are always available to discuss with affected landowners.
Project delays raises concerns among councillors
The meeting was told that staffing shortages have delayed the project, which is currently at phase two, the 'options selection' stage. This phase is expected to run until December 2025.
Phase three, which is the design and environmental evaluation of the preferred route, is not likely to be completed until the second quarter of 2026.
That stage will determine whether planning approval is granted by local councillors or referred to An Bord Pleanála, with a decision unlikely to be made for at least another 12 months.
The extended timeline raised concerns among councillors, who warned that delays could fuel further speculation and deepen divisions in the community over the Greenway's route.
"Another year and a half of speculation and innuendo is not helping the situation, and I appreciate the timeframes you have," said Cllr Brendan Mulroy.
"We have another year and a half to wait for this to be backing over. Let's be honest, it is creating a lot of bad blood between people,
"We were hoping this would come before us in March or May [2025] at the latest. Now it's being left again, I don't even see us dealing with it in 2026, to be honest," he told the meeting.
"I was of the view that we would've had a route determined by now. The reality here is that the time frame is disappointing," he added.
Cathaoirleach of the council, Peter Flynn, echoed his colleague's concerns, saying he was 'stunned by the delays' and could not understand how it would take another year before a planning application would come before them.
Councillors acknowledged that there are specific procedures to follow when planning projects like the Greenway, but at the same time, they noted that the process already feels drawn out.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.