Mayo landowners informed by council access to their land will be required for greenway surveys
The National Roads Office at Mayo County Council has issued letters to residents along the preferred route for the controversial Belclare to Murrisk Greenway, informing them that access to their land will be needed to carry out the next stage of the project.
The letters were sent out without the knowledge of councillors in the Westport and Belmullet district, prompting concerns about the overall communication process surrounding the greenway project.
Currently, the project is at Stage Two of development, and the letters are the first sign that development is moving into Stage Three, the design and environmental evaluation phase.
Stage Three had originally been scheduled for completion by the second quarter of 2026, but Cllr Brendan Mulroy told the March meeting of the municipal district that landowners have been informed surveys will be carried out “by the end of the year”.
Cllr Mulroy questioned both the slow pace of progress and also how the route had been designated as “preferred” before surveys had been carried out.
“What is going on with that greenway? There is a lot more at play here than we are being told as councillors,” he said.
Cllr Mulroy explained he had asked for an update on the final route design a year ago and believes key information is being withheld, saying that there is “something that us elected members here are not being told”.
“12 months ago we were to be given an update on the selected route, this issue has been kicked down the road at every opportunity,” he said.
Cllr Mulroy asked for the National Roads Office to give an update to elected members at their next meeting because, at the moment, he said their timeframes are “totally inaccurate”.
“To be told they are only asking the landowners to carry out a survey now, it creates the illusion for me that there is a big issue,” he said.
Head of the Westport Municipal District, Seamus Ó Mongáin, said the comments will be referred back to the National Roads Office and described the project as “complex terrain”.
Cllr Mulroy rejected that explanation, saying “it has been complex terrain since last March”, and adding that, in his view, “there is something not right” about the way the project is progressing.
Cathaoirleach of the municipal district, Cllr Peter Flynn, also criticised the communication process surrounding the greenway, describing it as “frail to put it mildly”.
“The fact that a registered letter went out last week and none of us here were aware of it, I think it would be helpful if we were kept informed on each step of the process,” he said.
He agreed with Cllr Mulroy that councillors remain unaware of the project’s current direction, saying he felt this “has been a constant problem throughout”.
The preferred route for the Belclare to Murrisk Greenway, which emerged in late 2023, runs from Aughavale Cemetery past the Killadangan Lakes and Old Burial Ground before linking with the Croagh Patrick path.
The route takes the project off-road, crossing farmland, rising through a floodplain valley and onto the slopes of Croagh Patrick.
Under Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) rules, greenways can only receive funding if they are built on state-owned land, meaning land along the route would need to be acquired from private owners.
However, landowners have firmly stated they are unwilling to sell, raising the prospect that Mayo County Council and TII will use Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) to acquire the land.
Local residents and members of the Belclare to Murrisk Committee have repeatedly stated they are not opposed to a greenway, but they oppose the possibility of their land being taken without their consent, particularly when an alternative route exists.
A previous proposal, known as Option One, would have seen the greenway developed along the R335. That plan was approved and fully funded in 2019, but progress stalled after funding was reportedly lost following a departmental audit in 2020.
When TII took over responsibility for greenways in 2021, updated standards meant the R335 option was no longer considered a viable option.
The project has taken years to reach its current stage, yet a final route has not been confirmed, and Stage Three of development has been pushed back to the end of the year.
The potential use of CPOs remains a major concern for landowners, many of whom are now entering a third year of uncertainty marked by ongoing delays and shifting timelines.
At a Joint Committee on Transport hearing last November, TII chief executive Lorcan O’Connor defended the use of CPOs, stating that they were a necessary part of the process if used as a last resort.
At the same hearing, Mayo TD Rose Conway-Walsh described CPOs as “disrespectful” and called for them to be taken off the table, arguing this would force “proper consultation” between landowners and TII.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.