Greenway plan worth pursuing
THERE is much talk in the air this week in the light of the Coronavirus crisis of the need for us all to demonstrate a more caring attitude and for communities to work together to counter the terrible virus that is threatening so many lives and our way of life.
It is of course understandable and necessary for Government Ministers and others to emphasis these points, especially when there is so much at stake for the country.
There are however many examples of communities working together for the greater good which should be highlighted by way of illustrating that a common objective, no matter how insignificant in the light of the current crisis, can be realised if a community is given clear leadership.
That scenario can be applied to Blackrock where, over a number of years, and with the leadership coming from the
Tidy Towns committee, the area has been transformed, with the vast majority of the people in the district lending their unqualified support.
Now the committee, not content with all they have achieved, are determined to go a step further and have unveiled a three year development plan that will take them to 2023.
That plans includes a range of very worth while projects such as the promotion of sustainable living and climate action, all of which are listed in the plan.
That plan also includes one project which will be dear to the hearts of many people, not just those living in Blackrock, and there is a plan for the provision of a greenway from Soldiers Point through Blackrock and over the Fane river via a new pedestrian and cycle bridge.
This work, the plan envisages, could be done in conjunction with the new flood defences for Dundalk and Blackrock.
Connecting the Navvy Bank from Soldiers Point to Blackrock is not a new suggestion and has been mooted for years.
Indeed plans were drawn up some years ago, and the money was being allocated to carry out the work when problems arose over access to the shore along the route.
Hopefully these problems can be overcome and the greenway built for it was be a tremendous asset not just to tourism, but to local people, to have a walk and cycle path from Quay Street to Blackrock and perhaps onwards to the Fane river.
Now that the idea has been included in the development plan by the progressive Blackrock Tidy Towns committee, it may get the support it needs to see it realised.