Farmers vent fury over new Greenway

A CONTROVERSIAL walking and cycling greenway plan affecting more than 100 farmers in County Galway should be reviewed as a matter of urgency

It has now been suggested that an original plan to provide the greenway along the old N6 national primary route from Ballinasloe to Galway city should be revisited.

There has been strong opposition to the proposal by the National Roads Authority to provide a cycle greenway across farmland in East Galway.

It is estimated that the cycle greenway will bring 10,000 visitors a month to the area – land owners along the proposed route though are furious.

Recently plans were unveiled for an off-road cycle greenway between Dublin and Galway with towns and villages such as Ballinasloe, Aughrim, Kilrickle, Loughrea, Craughwell, Kilcolgan, Clarinbridge and Oranmore being part of the route.

A consultation process has begun with farmers along the proposed route voicing their opposition to their lands being divided by the cycle path.

Galway East TD Paul Connaughton Jnr. now believes that the original plan to provide a cycle path along the hard shoulder of the N6 should be reconsidered.

He said that he was supportive of a greenway project and the benefits that it would provide for East Galway but he believed that more consultation was needed.

“I am supportive of the greenway project, which will bring much-needed tourism to the county. But a number of farmers in County Galway have been led to believe that the greenway route will have to go through their land, which will split their holdings and make everyday farm live much more difficult for them.

“We already have an issue with fragmented holdings and this project will prove a further inconvenience to some of the most productive farmers in the county. We have to make sure that these farmers are properly compensated, but it is even more important to make sure that their concerns are reflected in the route of the greenway and that damage to existing farms is minimised,” Deputy Connaughton added.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.