Devine bemoans dearth of greenways in north of county

A complaint that there are “loads” of greenways under preparation in the south of Westmeath but none in the north of the county, was made by Cllr Alfie Devine at the February meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad.

He was seeking a statement on progress on a previously agreed walkway/ greenway from Finea to Abbeylara, and reminded officials that the Longford side of the stretch is complete.

In their written reply, the district officials informed Cllr Devine that a 2024 feasibility report identified the preferred route and estimated the cost for the project at in the region of €250,000.

“The proposed trail is approximately 1.5 kilometres in length, running south from Finea along existing country and forestry roads, before connecting with the existing Bunahowna Trail in County Longford,” the reply continued, adding that the estimated cost was not inclusive of the cost of provision for a bridge over the River Inny.

Concluding, it stated that to advance the development of the proposed trail, it will be necessary to progress the project through the planning process and to secure the required funding.

“The District Office will engage with Longford County Council to identify a suitable funding source to progress the project to both the planning and construction phases,” Cllr Devine was assured.

Cllr Devine said that on the Longford side, “a fantastic job” has been done, but on the Westmeath side, the project appeared to have been “left and forgotten about”, but he appreciated the undertaking to identify a funding source to complete the project.

“In the north of the county, we have no greenways. There’s loads and loads of greenways being progressed and done south of the N4 and this is one of the ones that we would really want to get done and especially when it’s joining up with one that has started already from the far side,” Cllr Devine commented, stating that in his view, for a greenway of that length, €250,000 did not seem to be a huge amount of money.

Graveyard lighting

Cllr Devine also asked that the district change the heads on the streetlights at Castlepollard Graveyard to double sided fittings so as to light up the graveyard, but to that, the reply from the district was that Westmeath County Council’s policy is not to illuminate graveyards.

“The existing three LED lights in front of the graveyard on Church Street, Castlepollard, serve to light the public spaces outside the graveyard, including the public footpath, car parking spaces, and the public road. It is not possible to double‑side the streetlights,” the response stated, concluding that if the community wish to provide lighting within the graveyard, that would need to be achieved using standalone equipment.

Gritting

Cllr Devine also issued a plea for expansion of the winter gritting programme to the roads connecting Fore, Castlepollard and Collinstown, arguing that the school at Fore has become busy, Decotek also has a large staff and the 818 bus route also travels the area, with the result that there is much traffic on the roads.

The written response provided stated that the district’s transportation section had advised that it was not possible to extend the current gritting schedule to include the roads identified by Cllr Devine.

“This matter, however, will be kept under review in the context of preparing our winter services delivery plan for next season (2026-2027) should additional capacity become available,” the reply concluded.

Cllr Devine pleaded that should additional capacity become available, he hoped roads such as this would be prioritised.