Louth County Council following agreed Code of Best Practice on Greenway
Local authority following code agreed with bodies including Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the IFA, and the ICSA
Louth County Council has said that it is following the Code of Best Practice on National and Regional Greenways, a code agreed with bodies including Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the IFA, and the ICSA in relation to the 1,657 submissions received during the recent public consultation for the proposed Dundalk-Carlingford Greenway.
The Dundalk Democrat sought clarity from Louth County Council on what the next steps are in the the proposed Greenway process, after Dundalk-Carlingford's Cllr Andrea McKevitt expressed concern over what she said was “the Council’s failure to provide clarity or certainty on whether each submission made during the consultation process has been addressed”.
In a statement to the Dundalk Democrat, Cllr McKevitt said that: “The dogs on the streets know of the thousands of signatures and submissions that have been made to Louth County Council in relation to the Dundalk Bay to Carlingford Greenway, and at the September monthly meeting, it is very concerning to learn that each individual submission may not be responded to, which is very disheartening and not acceptable.”
The Dundalk Democrat asked Louth County Council to confirm the number of submissions it received in relation to the Greenway, what the next stages in the process are, if the timeline would be impacted by the number of submissions received, and clarity on whether or not each individual submission would normally be replied to in a consultation process.
The local authority told the Dundalk Democrat that: “Louth County Council can confirm that the total number of submissions received as part of the Route Corridor Options consultation stage was 1,657.
“These submissions will now be reviewed by the project consultants and will inform the process in determining an emerged preferred route corridor, which will be subject to the next public consultation phase. It is likely that it will be early 2025 by the time the project reaches that milestone.
“The importance of communication is acknowledged in terms of the process involved in the planning and designing of the proposed Greenway. All submissions received on-line or by e-mail have received an acknowledgement, while confirmation receipts were provided to individual hard copy submissions where requested.
“A consultation findings report will be produced, that will capture responses to the queries and issues raised in the submissions, categorised into groups of issues similar in nature. This report will be made available on completion, which is expected to be by the end of 2024/early 2025.
“In examining the proposed Dundalk to Carlingford Greenway, Louth County Council is following the Code of Best Practice on National and Regional Greenways which sets out a process of developing Greenways in a collaborative way.
“The views of the public are an important and central element of the planning and design process, and the Code makes extensive provision for public consultation and the dissemination of information to the public during the development of the project, which Louth County Council is committed to.
“The Code of Practice was developed and agreed by a working group including Department of Transport, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Irish Farmers Association, Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), Irish Cattle & Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA), Department of Rural & Community Development, Sports Ireland, Failte Ireland and representatives from the local government sector.
“Further details on the project can be found on the dedicated website www.dundalkcarlingfordgreenway.ie, including contact details for the Project Liaison Officer.”