Farmers have vowed to halt the development of a greenway cycle path from Athlone to Galway.

Landowners along one stretch of the likely route between Portumna and Meelick insisted that they will fight the cycle path’s construction on private property.

Members of the East Galway Greenway Action Group claimed that a majority of farmers who are likely to be impacted by the greenway are “completely opposed” to the project.

While an information meeting was held recently in Eyrecourt involving the project team tasked with developing the route, action group member Gabriel Larkin said landowners were dissatisfied that there has been no direct engagement with farmers who could lose land to the greenway.

It is not a question of money

He claimed that many farmers did not want the greenway running through their holdings, despite the monetary compensation package agreed by the farm organisations and Transport Infrastructure Ireland in a recent code of best practice for such developments.

“It is not a question of money,” Larkin said.

Farmers were also angry that compulsory purchase orders (CPO) could be employed to secure lands required for the greenway, he added.

“The East Galway Greenway Action Group are completely opposed to land severance and the use of CPOs, despite the code of best practice signed off by the three main farming organisations,” Larkin explained.

Larkin accused the greenway project team of acting in contravention of code of best practice by failing to consider alternative routes.

The project team wants to reiterate that no route has been chosen yet

“The project team, Galway [Co Council] and Westmeath Co Council and public representatives are unwilling to look at alternatives for the greenway. It has been suggested that they look at using existing infrastructure to complete the project in areas where public land is not available,” he pointed out.

The project team within Galway County Council confirmed that it was extending the period of public consultation for the greenway by four weeks until 28 February.

“The project team wants to reiterate that no route has been chosen yet, and that the emerging preferred route corridor is the space within which the cycleway could potentially be routed,” it stated.