Claremorris to Collooney railway ‘abandoned’ not ‘closed’ – Bord Pleanála

No go ahead for velorail project but planning application will be submitted

Anton McNulty

AN Bord PleanΡla has found that the Western Rail Corridor from Claremorris to Collooney has been abandoned, despite both Mayo County Council and Irish Rail denying this is the case.
An Bord PleanΡla (ABP) came to this conclusion when deciding whether the change of use of a section of the railway line near Kiltimagh to that of a velorail is development, and whether it is exempted development.
The Kiltimagh-based development company IRD Kiltimagh plans to develop a 12km velorail along the Western Rail Corridor around Kiltimagh as a tourism attraction for the area. According to its website, www.ird-kiltimagh.ie, ‘the Velorail Project involves the running of pedal-powered carriages on the closed railway line’.
IRD Kiltimagh has the support of Irish Rail and Mayo County Council, and to date it has received €300,000 in funding from the Department of Rural and Community Development.
Work on the project has already begun. This has included the clearing of vegetation along the line and subsidence repairs to the line.
Mayo County Council claims that the work carried out was exempted development and that the change of use from railway to Velorail is not a material change of use.
This was challenged by Sligo-based Brendan Quinn, who referred the matter to ABP to consider if the work required planning permission.
The railway line from Claremorris to Collooney ceased carrying regular traffic in 1975. In submissions to ABP, Irish Rail and Mayo County Council both denied that the railway line has been abandoned, with the council describing it as ‘disused’. Irish Rail described it as ‘closed’, and said that to abandon a line would require a ministerial order.
Mr Quinn is a long-term advocate of converting the line into a greenway, and in his submission to ABP he stated that a cycle/walkpath from Athenry to Enniskillen was the most viable proposal for the line.
He stated the Velorail was favoured by the ‘railway lobby’, as it would block any greenway development. Mr Quinn also claimed there was public support for a greenway in Kiltimagh.
Irish Rail entered into a 12-year licence agreement with Mayo County Council to facilitate the development of a Velorail at the beginning of 2015.
In his submission, Joe Kelly of IRD Kiltimagh claimed that in making the referral Mr Quinn was motivated by ‘an agenda to convert the rail line from Collooney to Athenry to a greenway’. He also asked on the board of ABP to be aware that there are other pressure groups petitioning for the reinstatement of freight services on the entire railway.
Responding, Mr Quinn denied that he has a personal agenda and claimed his referral was neither ‘vexatious’ nor ‘frivolous’.
In his report, Mr John Desmond, Senior Planning Inspector with ABP, noted that Irish Rail confirmed there are no plans to resume operations, and that it is evident that operations cannot be resumed without significant works to the railway infrastructure.
As a result, he found that the railway line as a ‘railway’ has been abandoned and he found that the change of use from ‘railway’ to Velorail would constitute a material change of use of the railway line and therefore does constitute development.
Mr Desmond found that the works carried out facilitating the change of use of the railway line to use for Velorail is development, and not exempted development, and the change of use of the ‘abandoned’ railway line is also development and not exempted development.
While the board of ABP agreed with Mr Desmond that the change of use of the railway line is development and is not exempted development, they found that the work already carried out is exempted development.
In a statement after the ABP ruling, Mr PΡdraig Philbin, Head of Tourism in Mayo County Council, welcomed the board’s decision that the works completed to date are exempted. He added that the council is looking to ‘advance the project through our planning process as soon as is reasonably practicable’.