Delays in letters being delivered to residents affected by the proposed Dundalk Bay to Carlingford Greenway have been branded “just not good enough” by a Louth councillor.
The route is being developed by Louth County Council with the support of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), and councillors were told at the latest council meeting that a final options report had been submitted to TII for approval ahead of publication.
Seeking an update, Cllr Watters said he had received numerous queries from residents about the project and noted that the preferred route report had been expected in early October.
Director of Service, David Jones said the council had sought approval from the TII on the final options report, which would be published before the end of the month.
He added that letters would be sent, via post, to landowners whose holdings have been identified as being located within the Preferred Route Corridor and landowners whose holdings are in close proximity to it.
Within days of the council meeting the local authority indicated that the Preferred Route Corridor and Options Report, together with the Public Consultation No. 3 Feedback Report, would be published on Thursday October 22.
But this date was pushed back by twenty-four hours after it emerged that there were postal delays in the delivery of letters to affected landowners. Notification on the project website was expected at midday on Friday October 23.
The website was updated again on Friday morning with an advisory was that the Preferred Route Corridor and Options Report will now not be published until Tuesday next, October 27 2026.
Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council Cllr. Kevin Callan and Cllr. Andrea McKevitt receive petitions from the large attendance at the protest about the Cooley Greenway held at County Hall. Photo by Ken Finegan/Newspics Photography © Ken Finegan/Newspics Photography
Responding to the delays Cllr Watters said he had received “a number of calls from residents in the Peninsula who have advised they didn’t receive any letters on the Preferred Route Corridor by Friday morning.”
“This is not good enough with many landowners waiting anxiously for post that should have been delivered.”
He told independent.ie: “It is causing a lot of confusion, anxiety, and frankly anger among people who know they are living along where the route is proposed.”
“Landowners deserve to know before anyone else, I think everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet on that.”
He said he understood there were “hundreds of letters issued to landowners.”
“But people are now left in limbo over the Bank Holiday weekend, and into the mid-term break. It’s just not good enough for such a big project, and it is feeding into the negativity people feel about it.”
He added that there are likely to be some variations to the current emerging preferred route, published in November last year.
It indicated a potential greenway path which runs close to the old railway line and then moves towards the main road connecting Dundalk to the Cooley Peninsula. It would end at the Ballymascanlon roundabout and head left towards the Racecourse Road in Dundalk.
Significant concerns were raised around the Lordship area, where the proposed route could impact on a housing development.
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