Kerry County Council has agreed to meet and fully engage with all landowners and their agents on the South Kerry Greenway to settle and pay compensation claims and resolve outstanding accommodation works, according to the Irish Farmers Association (IFA).

The commitment was provided by Kerry County Council chief executive Fearghal Reidy at an IFA meeting of landowners in the Foilmore Community Centre, Cahersiveen, Co Kerry, last week.

Kerry IFA chair Jason Fleming welcomed the new positive approach to engagement from the county council, stating this commitment is major progress on the South Kerry Greenway.

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“We need to get the outstanding cases resolved quickly, get the accommodation works completed properly and get the farmers paid.

"It was a very positive move that the chief executive from the council and his management agreed to attend the meeting and discuss the issues and problems on the greenway directly with landowners,” he added.

It is a real step forward that the county council recognise that they need to do better with the landowners on the greenway, IFA infrastructure chair Paul O’Brien said.

He said the approach from the county council involving compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) was wrong and that the Kerry greenway has been bedevilled with problems from a very early stage.

Kerry County Council also agreed to support the payment of the full greenway sustainability payment to landowners on the route, the IFA claimed.

Paul O’Brien called on the council and local politicians to convince Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien that landowners on the South Kerry Greenway cannot be shortchanged on this critically important payment.

Frustration

Speakers from the floor at the meeting raised their frustration in dealing with the county council.

Issues included the council refusing to engage or deal with some landowners and agents, poor communications, problems with accommodation works such as fencing, gates or pens, lack of respect for the landowners, SACs and SPAs, the varying width of the greenway and delays in payments.

The 27km-long South Kerry Greenway runs from Glenbeigh to Cahersiveen and is estimated to cost €72m. It involves 139 landowners in total, of which only 39 have been paid to date.

Public representatives from Kerry, including TDs and local councillors, also attended the IFA meeting.

All of the public representatives welcomed the new approach from Kerry County Council and strongly supported the case made by the IFA on behalf of the landowners, especially on compensation payments, accommodation works and the sustainability payments.