East Mayo Greenway Group welcomes support of Sligo County Council
Sligo County Manager to discuss extending Sligo Greenway from Bellaghy/Charlestown to Claremorris
The East Mayo Greenway group has welcomed an initiative from Sligo County Council to ask the Sligo County Manager Martin Lydon to request a meeting with his counterpart in Mayo, Mayo county manager, Kevin Kelly, to examine the potential of extending the Sligo Greenway from Charlestown to Claremorris. The Sligo Greenway is currently planned to be constructed along the route of the closed railway line from Collooney to the Sligo Mayo border Bellaghy Charlestown, where it will terminate.
The motion from Cllr Marie Casserly was passed at the Sligo Council monthly meeting on December 6th requesting the two County Managers have a meeting to discuss the potential of a greenway from Enniskillen to Claremorris using the closed railway route.
“We are delighted to see this offer of support from Sligo County Council” said Swinford based, Michael Maye spokesperson for the 2,000 strong East Mayo Greenway Group. “Over 1,000 submissions on the county plan have asked for a greenway on the closed railway from Charlestown to Claremorris including submissions from Irish Rail and submissions from the Department of Transport which both fully support the idea of a greenway on the section of the closed railway from Claremorris to Charlestown.”
Mr Maye continued, “It is very important for people to understand that north of Claremorris to Bellaghy there are no plans to consider this part of the railway for re-opening. It is different south of Claremorris to Athenry which is being considered for possible re-opening as a railway under a new national rail review. Both Irish Rail and the Department of Transport support the East Mayo Greenway from Charlestown to Claremorris and we need to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Cllr Casserlys motion pointed to the fact that Sligo County Council is working with Leitrim Council and Fermanagh Council to create a cross border greenway from Enniskillen to Sligo which will extend to the Sligo Mayo border at Bellaghy. There is the potential to create Irelands longest continuous greenway from Enniskillen to Claremorris and to connect to the Great Western Greenway via a connection from Swinford to Turlough House and Castlebar.
“This is such a huge opportunity for Mayo to quickly and efficiently connect to the wider National Greenway Network” said Michael Maye, he continued “The East Mayo Greenway Group is asking all Mayo Councillors to support the East Mayo Greenway initiative and to include the idea in the new county development plan”
Full motion passed by Sligo County Council on December 6th 2021:
To consider the following motion as submitted by Councillor M. Casserly:
“Given that the planned construction of two major and interconnecting greenways in the region will connect Bellaghy in South Sligo and Sligo City with the Northern Ireland Greenway Network at Enniskillen, it is desirable for sustainable jobs and business opportunities in the county that the greenway network should as far as possible connect with other greenway infrastructure in the North West. I propose that Sligo County Council CE request a meeting with his opposite number in Mayo County Council to examine whether the latter body might explore the possibility of extending the greenway on the closed railway from Bellaghy to Claremorris, to develop the longest such piece of infrastructure in Ireland. If such development were to take place, it could easily be connected from Swinford with the Great Western Greenway via Turough House. There are no plans and there is no possible source of funding to build a railway on the former rail route between Claremorris and Bellaghy, but there is funding available for a greenway, which would furthermore protect the route from loss to public ownership until such future time as a railway might be possible.”
https://www.sligococo.ie/
Report in the Western People Wednesday 8th December 2021
Elected members of Sligo Co Council have voted in favour of the initiation of conversations between that local authority and its counterpart in Mayo around examining the possibility of extending the greenway on the closed railway from Bellaghy to Claremorris. The motion, proposed by Cllr Marie Casserly, sparked a heated debate that lasted over an hour at Monday’s meeting of Sligo Co Council.
Noting the plans to have major greenways between Bellaghy and Sligo City and the Northern Ireland Greenway Network at Enniskillen interconnect, Cllr Casserly said it was desirable for sustainable jobs and business opportunities in Sligo that its greenway network should connect with other greenway infrastructure in the northwest to develop the longest such piece of infrastructure in Ireland.
“There are no plans and there is no possible source of funding to build a railway on the former rail route between Claremorris and Bellaghy, but there is funding available for a greenway, which would furthermore protect the route from loss to public ownership until such future time as a railway might be possible,” her motion stated.
But Cllr Declan Bree said the motion was out of order by requesting the chief executives of both local authorities to ignore the provisions of the National Planning Framework and the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES) which set out the reopening of the Sligo to Galway Western Rail Corridor as a key objective.
Furthermore, it undermined and subverted the democratic process and role of elected representatives, he argued, noting that Mayo Co Council has already set out its opposition to the development of a greenway on the Western Rail Corridor in correspondence with Sligo Co Council.
The council’s chief executive Mr Martin Lydon stressed that Sligo Co Council will be following national and regional policy in every respect.
But the council’s Director of Planning Community and Economic Development, Ms Dorothy Clarke, observed that Government departments have stated that a greenway is permissible on the Sligo to Claremorris line and that Sligo Co Council is actively working on technical aspects to advance a greenway project from Collooney to Bellaghy.
The RSES also refers to a greenway and national policy makes provision for a necklace of greenways between counties as part of a long-term approach, she said.
Cllr Bree stressed that Cllr Casserly’s motion referenced Bellaghy to Claremorris which takes in the area of Mayo Co Council.
“Only in the last few months, members of Mayo County Council unanimously adopted a resolution for their new development plan insisting that the rail would go ahead and proceed without any greenway. We cannot interfere in the internal affairs of Mayo County Council and the CEO should not be asked to do so,” Cllr Bree argued.
Cllr Thomas Walsh seconded Cllr Casserly’s motion, stressing that it merely posed a question in relation to strategy and that the reopening of the railway is a separate debate.
Cathaoirleach Cllr Paul Taylor allowed the motion.
Describing the debate as a “big to do about nothing”, Cllr Casserly stressed that her motion was not an argument against the railway. Her priority is to create jobs for the region and promote the area for investment and tourism.
Developing a greenway would ensure that the railway route is kept in public ownership until such time as a railway might be possible – something which the newly-published National Rail Freight Strategy acknowledges will not be pursued in the next 20 years:
“For the next 20 years while we are waiting for this, we can have those jobs. We can have people coming into this area. That is why I have that motion down. To create cooperation between counties – the same as there is between counties in other parts of the country – so that we are not missing out on the millions and millions and millions of Euros that is spent in other parts of the country,” she stressed.
Following a lengthy debate, the motion was put to a vote and passed with 11 councillors in favour of it and six against.
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