Section of west Mayo Greenway closed with padlocked gates
Gates have been placed across part of the Great Western Greenway closing off a section along the N59 in Kilmeena
A short section of the Great Western Greenway in West Mayo has been closed off close to the N59 in Kilmeena after gates were placed across the route.
Padlocked gates have been placed across two parts of the Great Western Greenway blocking off a section approximately 50 metres in length in the townland of Corragaun on the northern end of the parish of Kilmeena.
The short section of the Greenway which is currently closed off runs adjacent to the N59 Newport to Westport road and passes by the entrance of a farmyard and home. Pedestrians and cyclists using the Greenway at this location will now have to go onto the N59 to bypass the closed off section to rejoin the Greenway path.
It is understood that the gates were placed in front of the Greenway over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Speaking at Friday's monthly meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District, Cllr Peter Flynn informed the meeting he received a phone call from a landowner who said he was threatening to close the Greenway.
“This week I got a phone call from one landowner who said he was going to close the greenway because he had an incident involving the council.
“This person phoned me and said 'Peter I'm closing the greenway, I'm sick and tired of it'. It is a section right along the main road where his farm exit comes onto it and his home exit comes onto it. He said there have been so many incidents on it and he is going to close the greenway,” Cllr Flynn said.
The Fine Gael councillor was speaking during a debate on greenways where some councillors called for greenways to be developed where landowners give permissive access to their land as opposed to the current model of land acquisition and compulsory purchase order.
The Great Western Greenway between Westport and Achill was developed using the permissive access model and has been held up as the model to follow.
However, Cllr Flynn said that although it has been a success and permissive access is the preferred model, it leaves the authorities vulnerable if a landowner has a difficulty and decides to close access to their land.
“Where does that leave the greenway in terms of permissive access? It means the greenway is effectively shut and a very significant section is closed other than putting people onto the main road with a 100km per hour speed limit. While I agree that permissive access is the preferred route it does leave very vulnerable if a particular landowner has a difficulty,” he said.