HUBERT MURPHY
With issues about environmental impact as well, that has been revised and it will see a boardwalk travel along the Marsh Road and on to Mornington, ending at the Maiden Tower.
However, the width of the boardwalk will need to be 4m, meaning the road will narrow.
And that means the start of a process where the council will contact landowners along the main road, seeking land.
The main area impacted will be opposite Mornington Court.
It is envisaged that 2m to 3m of agricultural land frontage, west of the estate, will be needed.
The road will need to be reconfigured and that will impact on the frontal area of the estate, which may have to be reduced. There are also three to four properties further on.
There is also a site east of Church Road which have become allotments and permissive access may be needed here.
There will be shared access with Tower Road for pedestrians and vehicles.
‘It will be a high quality walking and cycling area with public lighting and CCTV where feasible.
‘ There will be traffic calming on the Marsh Road/ Mornington road with raised tables,’ it was stated at last week’s area council meeting in Duleek.
The next stop will a screening for environmental impact as well as contacting landowners in the coming weeks.
The plan is then to put in a funding proposal with Fingal County Council. Louth County Council have also been in discussions and they too could form part of the process.
For Cllr Paddy Meade, the plan is good news for the residents of the Crook Road who had fears that their flood barrier would be impacted.
Cllr Tom Kelly also welcomed the project and asked for a proper parking area at Mornington.
For residents of Mornington who wanted paths and lights and proper traffic calming, this was great news, Cllr Sharon Tolan remarked. ‘It’s a massive scheme that ticks all the boxes.’
Cllr Eimear Ferguson said it was a ‘ long time in the planning’ and it would be good to see a proper car park at the Maiden Tower.
Protecting the local residents was something highlighted by Cllr Stephen McKee, but he felt it was a very exciting prospect.
There were some questions asked about why the planners didn’t talk to landowners before bringing it to council, but they felt that those to be impacted would have been onto the councillors immediately and they would not have known what was going on.
It was stated that the last estimation was €5.5m but Cllr Sharon Keogan thought it would be more like €8m.
‘ This is very positive news and the feeling is that this will be part of one of the biggest tourist destinations in the country,’ Cllr Wayne Harding added. He said it would open up Mornington, Slane and the Battle of the Boyne site.
‘It is very important that Louth make the link too,’ he stated.
Area Manager Fiona Lawless said a lot of hard work had been done on the project and it was almost ‘ready to go’ when the money was secured for it.