Greenway application & CPO on way within weeks

KERRY County Council has said this week that the process of engaging with farmers on the South Kerry Greenway is complete and that the local authority will be lodging a planning application in the coming weeks.

This planning application will also incorporate the compulsory purchase order for the land required for the South Kerry Greenway.

The Kerryman understands that some landowners in the region still have concerns about the project and particularly about the use of a CPO to get the land. Legal advice is being sought in this regard.

There is huge local support for the project, particularly from the business community but also from local landowners. Landowners taking issue with it say they are mainly concerned with the CPO rather than the project itself.

The consensus among the wider community is that it is the only way to save South Kerry.

The project was first launched four years ago when then-Minister for the Environment, Alan Kelly, visited the region, and there are concerns that it has taken to so long to progress the project. Kerry County Council held a pre-planning meeting with An Bord Pleanála on June 26. A report from that meeting is expected in the coming weeks according to the authority.

A planning application will then be lodged with An Bord Pleanála in a major step forward for the project.

It is expected that An Bord will hold an oral hearing to hear all local viewpoints prior to making its decision.

The 32km-South Kerry Greenway is one of the county’s biggest tourism projects and it is estimated that it could be worth upt o €5 million annually to the region.

Pat Kavanagh of IRD Kells Foilmore said that a lot of thought went into deciding how best to use the old railway line, and he said that a greenway is the best option.

“It is a lifeline for the future. We are very lucky to have this opportunity of this in our area. The sooner it is past the post and gets start the sooner it will reveal the full potential. It will turn the place around,” he said.

He says that the project is “at a critical stage now” and that no-body wants “to roughshod” the project though. He urged everyone to work together to bring it to a reality.

Photo by Sinead Kelleher Pat Kavanagh, left, and Michael Golden - both of IRD Kells Foilmore – by the route of the proposed Greenway which they say would transform the region’s fortunes.