Cork Council Council to put plans for new East Cork Greenway on display soon

In a recent article in the Evening Echo, it was announced that proposed plans for the new Greenway on the former railway line from Youghal to Midleton.

Clare Cronin, project manager for Cork County Council said...“The drawings will go on display in the coming weeks. Anecdotally, we have been getting a lot of support but quite often we don’t hear the positives as part of the consultation process. So we would encourage people in support of the process to make sure their voices are heard. We want this to be a flagship project for east Cork. The greenways have proved very successful and they open up areas along the way that aren’t open now. Villages like Castlemartyr and Mogeely would benefit, the spin-off would be massive for tourism in the area. The Youghal track is owned by Irish Rail and they are agreeable for us to make the application. If we are successful, the intention will be to take a long-term lease or licence from them to develop and manage the greenway. Cork County council are very keen to secure a large-scale greenway project for the county, having seen how successful they have been elsewhere. Initially, a number of options were looked at, including the one to Kinsale but that old railway line is predominantly in private ownership. For that reason, the council has decided to focus on projects where the land is in public ownership.”

The new Greenway in Waterford which opened earlier this year has been a huge success with large numbers of people walking, running and cycling on it. It has also given a welcome boost to existing businesses like hotels and cafes as well as enabling the establishment of some new cycle hire firms.

The one big difference with the new proposed Greenway in East Cork is that the Greater Cork Metropolitan area is on its doorstep with a population of 400,000 people. If the Waterford one is popular, just imagine what the East Cork one will be like.

As you might imagine, the whole process is likely to take some time. Public consultations, planning, getting funding and then eventual construction....it all takes time but at least the ball is rolling.


The Evening Echo article is HERE