The project has completed Phase 2 Option Selection and the Preferred Route Corridor has now been identified.  The Options Report and Preferred Route Corridor are available to view at the following LINK.The Project has been approved by TII to progress to the next stage of the project, which is Phase 3 – Design and Environmental Evaluation.

According to the Strategy for the Future Development of National and Regional Greenways (DTTAS, 2018), a greenway can be described as “a recreational or pedestrian corridor for non-motorised journeys, developed in an integrated manner which enhances both the environment and quality of life of the surrounding area”. ​ The popularity of recently opened Greenways throughout Ireland demonstrates the many benefits that they can promote, including the provision of safe, substantially segregated walking and cycling infrastructure that makes it easier to visit friends, travel to school or work and to connect villages and towns. ​ On a wider scale, Greenways are providing opportunities to experience Ireland’s beautiful countryside for both visitors and locals alike, contributing to Ireland’s health and wellbeing, enhancing local communities with opportunities for new and existing businesses, and offering sustainable alternatives for tourists and locals to access a hidden Ireland.

The project team are committed to fully consider any inputs from members of the public and whilst the non-statutory public consultation has now closed, if the public have any questions regarding the project, please do not hesitate to contact the project liaison officer here.As the project progresses into Phase 3 – Design and Environmental Evaluation, the design team will be in contact with all affected landowners as the design is developed to seek to optimise the alignment to minimise the impact on land, properties, farming operations

Louth County Council has responsibility for planning and managing development within the study area. Planning applications and new developments may be granted, subject to the normal planning processes.  Planning applications received which are within the Preferred Route Corridor will be reviewed by the project team.  Each planning application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Until the 1950’s, the Cooley Peninsula was served by the L&NWR railway service, which provided freight and passenger services from Dundalk to Newry. This railway had stations at Bellurgan, the Bush, Greenore, Carlingford, Omeath and Newry. The closure of the railway increased the disconnection between communities for those seeking to use public transport. The Dundalk Bay to Carlingford Greenway seeks to reconnect these communities by active modes of transport, to reduce the reliance on private vehicles for these journeys. Currently there are no safe and accessible dedicated cycling facilities in the region, with the exception of the Carlingford Greenway, with most of the trails using the existing road network, such as the Whitestown Loop for example, sharing local roads with vehicular traffic. The Dundalk Bay to Carlingford Greenway would therefore create safe leisure and recreational spaces and would open up opportunities for local residents, particularly those outside the main settlements, to engage in recreational walking and cycling with associated health benefits.

The project is at the end of Phase 2 Option Selection and the Preferred Route Corridor has been identified and is now available to view on the project website (LINK), together with the Options Report.

The Preferred Route Corridor does not represent the actual width of the proposed greenway development or the lands required to facilitate the development. The corridor simply indicates the area within which a greenway alignment could feasibly be developed. Currently, the corridor is approximately 50m in width (although wider in a number of locations due to notable constraints and opportunities) and the proposed greenway will typically be 6-8m in width.

Each of the Route Corridor Options presented at Public Consultation No. 2 have undergone assessment in accordance with the Transport Appraisal Framework (TAF). This consisted of undertaking a Transport Accessibility Appraisal (TAA) under the six TAF criteria of:  Local Environment;  Climate;  Safety;  Land Use;  Social;  Accessibility  In addition to the TAA, an economic appraisal was undertaken of each option as part of the assessment.  Once each option was assessed, a pairwise comparison of routes was undertaken to identify the Emerging Preferred Route Corridor.  Following feedback received during Public Consultation No. 3, improvements to the Emerging Preferred Route Corridor have been made and now form the Preferred Route Corridor. Full details of the appraisal are contained within the Options Report that is now published on the project website.

The feedback received during Public Consultation No. 3 has been carefully reviewed by the project team and this has led to a number of improvements to the Emerging Preferred Route Corridor.  The changes are documented in the Option Selection Report and the PC3 Feedback Report.  As the project progresses to Phase 3 – Design and Environmental Evaluation, the design team will be in touch with landowners to discuss the emerging alignment of the greenway and will seek to incorporate further improvements to minimise the impact of the greenway.

There are currently several NTA funded Active Travel projects being developed by Louth County Council to address cyclist and pedestrian access within Dundalk. The proposed Greenway will connect to these projects to the north of Táin Bridge and in doing so allows for pedestrian and cyclist access within Dundalk to train services at Dundalk Clarke Station and the Bus Éireann station at The Long Walk. Further information on Active Travel projects within Dundalk can be found at Louth County Council's Online Consultation Portal - https://consult.louthcoco.ie/en

The route will be developed within the Preferred Route Corridor. However, this does not mean that land will necessarily be acquired from your property or farm.  As the design develops, it may be necessary to acquire part of your land for the greenway. The greenway is not expected to require the acquisition of any house, but may require the acquisition of curtilage from the lands adjacent to the house requiring realignment of the property boundary wall/fence.

The Code of Best Practice for National and Regional Greenways (click here to access) promotes the use of Voluntary Land Acquisition Agreements as the preferred means of acquiring lands. Where private land acquisition is necessary following the selection of the Preferred Option, the Project Liaison Officer and Louth County Council will engage with individual landowners in an effort to agree upon a process that minimises the impact on their respective farm / property holdings and will seek to enter into Voluntary Land Acquisition Agreements where possible. The process of agreeing Voluntary Land Acquisition Agreements will be initiated in advance of Louth County Council making an application for planning consent. An early sign-on payment will be paid by Louth County Council to the landowner once a Voluntary Agreement has been signed and the farmer’s / landowner’s Solicitor has provided satisfactory evidence that good title is available. This early sign-on payment, where applicable, will be over and above the negotiated land acquisition / compensation payment to be determined between the landowner and the project promoter due to the potential effects of the scheme on the landholding. Where it does not prove possible to establish a Voluntary Land Acquisition Agreement, it may be necessary to compulsorily purchase the lands necessary for the scheme. This mechanism will, however, only be exercised as a last resort and in circumstances where for example: Voluntary Agreement cannot be reached between the parties following a comprehensive negotiations process. An economically feasible alternative route that meets the scheme objectives and the Five S criteria, as set out in the Code, does not exist. Legal title issues such as proof of ownership (clean title); unregistered land; ward of court; competing claims, etc. Any landowner whose land is affected will be entitled to compensation in accordance with legislation and practice.

Now that the Preferred Route Corridor has been published, only those planning applications along the Preferred Route Corridor will be referred to the project team. Each application will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the Louth County Development Plan.

Where space within the road corridor is available, the road space will be reallocated to accommodate the greenway within the existing road boundary. Where space constraints exist, the greenway may be located on the land side of the road boundary. Below are a number of examples of where greenways are adjacent to the existing road network from schemes that have been constructed around the country. Great Western Greenway – Westport to Newport Tralee to Fenit Greenway Lifford to Castlefinn (Before and After)

An Independent Agronomist has been engaged by Louth County Council to assist landowners through the project considering any relevant agronomy issues. Contact details of the Independent Agronomist are on the Contact page of the website.The Independent Agronomist will be made available to landowners to fully and fairly assess the impact of the proposed Greenway on their farms, business and other property types. The Independent Project / Property Advisor will assist in identifying a route which minimises the impact of the scheme on affected properties. The Project Agronomist / Property Advisor will also assist in agreeing upon appropriate accommodation works and access arrangements in consultation with the farmer / landowner Agronomist / Property Advisor.

The Project Liaison Officer(s) (PLO) will liaise and engage with affected parties or their representatives on any matters relating to the Greenway scheme including the Emerging Preferred Route Corridor. Contact details for the PLO are available on the project website.

Where necessary, fences shall be provided to assist in preventing trespass and for the protection of members of the public and animals. Fencing and boundary treatment will be discussed and agreed with the landowner and provided by Louth County Council. At a minimum, fencing will be stock proof (i.e. suitable for the containment of cattle and sheep) and will have regard to the farming activity carried out by the landowner at the date of land acquisition. Permanent fencing including crossing points, if required, will be erected / replaced with appropriate materials in each case. Where any fences, walls, boundary treatments or hedges are damaged they will be made good and will be reinstated with similar materials at least as good as heretofore, in a timely manner. Boundary fences erected as part of the Greenway will be maintained by Louth County Council, unless otherwise agreed. The type of fencing will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis with each landowner and their representative. The type of boundary treatment will vary depending on land use.

Where a farmer / landowner needs access across the Greenway to severed land, Louth County Council shall provide a suitable means of crossing. The crossings will be designed to facilitate the movement of farm machinery and include a gated arrangement to allow the safe crossing of livestock. The farmer / landowner undertakes to ensure crossings are managed in a safe, efficient and timely manner. Greenway users should afford reasonable opportunity for this and not interfere with this activity. Louth County Council will make every effort to avoid crossing any private access roads / driveways. Where a crossing is required, pedestrians and cyclists will give way to property owners using the private access road / driveway.

Louth County Council will indemnify the landowner against all actions, claims and demands arising from advanced surveys, investigation works and its acquisition of the land for the Greenway, for both the construction and operational phases of the scheme, other than claims arising from negligence or neglect on the part of the landowner.

The feedback received during Public Consultation No. 3 was carefully reviewed and improvements made to the Emerging Preferred Route Corridor (EPRC).  The changes to the EPRC are documented in the Option Selection Report, which is now published, together with the PC3 Feedback Report and the Preferred Route Corridor.  The Project has been approved by TII to progress to the next stage of the project, which is Phase 3 – Design and Environmental Evaluation.  As work on Phase 3 will commences, the team will develop the initial alignment of the greenway within the Preferred Route Corridor while consulting with individual landowners along the project to refine the design to minimise the impacts on people, property, farming operations and the receiving environment. As part of the design development, in the coming months, the project team will be contacting landowners seeking permission to access lands to undertake surveys.  These surveys may include a walk-over surveys of the land, drone LiDAR surveys, monitoring surveys or works within the land.  The surveys include: Environmental Walk-over surveys; Archaeological Surveys; Topographical Surveys; Noise Surveys; Landscape and Visual surveys; Ground Investigations.