Houses are held up due to lack of footpath
Newly-elected Cathaoirleach of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District Peter Flynn spoke on the issue. Picture: Michael McLaughlin
Planning permission for up to 200 new houses in Westport could be delayed due to the ongoing failure to provide safe pedestrian and cycle routes into the town.
A meeting of Westport-Belmullet Municipal District was told that it could be another four years before safe pedestrian and cycle routes from Knockranny and Monamore to Westport are completed. The work is due to be funded by the Active Travel programme.
Cllr Brendan Mulroy and Cllr Peter Flynn both queried the status of the plans, with Cllr Flynn asserting: “We have a potential developer at Monamore willing to build 160 houses and we also have council land across from it where we could build a significant number of units. We are already four years looking at this Active Travel measure.”
Mayo County Council's senior executive engineer Cathy Mellett said the scheme was known as the Knockranny Project and would provide a mix of local transport plans from Knockranny and the Lodge Road, both located on the Castlebar side of Westport. She estimated getting to the construction stage for the footpath would take up to three years, to which Cllr Flynn said it would, therefore, be another four years before it could be completed.
“You would build motorways faster," he remarked.
Ms Mellett said each project had to pass through different phases and then it all depended on time resources within the team.
Cllr Mulroy asked if it would be possible for the municipal district to take out a loan to fund the footpath on the Lodge Road.
"It is holding up two housing developments," he said. “We also have a new housing estate there with a lot of young people and they want to get into town safely."
Cllr Flynn added: “We just can’t wait four years for 200 houses ready to be built here because this footpath is critical to any planning permission along the road.”
Ms Mellett said funding was not the issue but personnel resources were.
“We may have the money allocated but the time needed to put each project through the various stages takes time, so I can’t answer you on that.”
Cllr Flynn said it was the National Transport Authority and the Active Travel scheme as a whole that needed to be looked at.
