Hopes voiced for greenway from Nenagh to Dromineer

Planning is progressing on a new greenway for walkers and cyclists along the banks of the Nenagh River, local councillors were informed at their January municipal meeting.

Council official Paddy Crowley briefed elected members on the plan to create the greenway, stretching along the edge of the waterway from the bridge at Lisboney just north of the town's Leisure Centre to the bridge beside the AIBP plant on the main N52.

Ultimately, councillors would like to see a greenway stretching along the river from Nenagh to its confluence with Lough Derg at Dromineer. But for now the focus is on developing an amenity on one specific stretch closer to the town itself.

Mr Crowley said the council received funding last year from the National Transport Authority to progress the four-metre wide greenway over the stretch from Lisboney to the main Borrisokane Road.

He said the council had since commissioned consultants to design the greenway and to liaise with stakeholders.

Cllr John Carroll said the greenway would be a hallmark development for the town. He expressed the hope that a greenway along the river could in future be developed on to the mouth of the river at Dromineer.

Mr Crowley said the greenway currently in the pipeline was just part of what everyone hoped would be a bigger jigsaw ultimately. But for now the focus was on creating the stretch that was “the urban greenway”.

Cllr Ger Darcy said the new greenway, if it is ultimately developed, would be a mighty amenity for the town.

Cllr Michael O' Meara said a huge amount of negotiations had taken place with landowners to get to the current stage of planning. “It has taken a fair bit of work to get it to this stage with input from all sides,” he said.

He said councillors had played a vital part in the negotiations, which he felt was important as landonwers knew who they were dealing with.

POTENTIAL HAZARD

Cllr Seamus Morris described what was proposed as a very important piece of infrastructure for the town. However, he felt a potential hazard to users lay midway along the proposed greenway - the narrow bridge situated on a sharp bend on the road on the town side of the pitch and putt course.

He said the road here was “very dangerous”, especially for pedestrians, and he felt ways of making it safer would have to be examined for people travelling on the greenway. He felt that apart from greenway users, there was a need to address the hazard as many people from the town walked over the bridge when going to and from the local pitch and putt course and Riverdale Nursing Home.

The road beyond the bridge had no pathway, but he felt that one should be provided to lessen the traffic hazards posed to pedestrians.

Cllr Morris agreed with Cllr Joe Hannigan that it should be possible to extend the existing pathway over the bridge and on to the pitch and putt course and nursing home.

Cathaoirleach Hughie McGrath agreed that a footpath be developed. He said the owner of lands in the locality was willing to cooperate with such a plan. One difficulty he saw was that the area in question did not qualify for Active Travel funds, which is the source of many footpath developments. But he said an alternative source of funding should be looked at.

Council Director Marcus O' Connor said the local authority would try to take the greenway crossing at the Old Birr Road at Kyleeragh away from the dangerous bridge. Such a move would involve negotiations with landowners.

Mr O' Connor said extending the footpath from the bridge to the pitch and putt course and nursing home was something the council would have to work on. However, funding streams were limited as the new footpath was outside the urban speed limit.