WEST Cork councillors approved a €1.5m extension to the Clare O’Leary walk at a meeting of the West Cork Divisional Committee meeting on Monday.
Engineer Aoife Mahony, who outlined details of the 900m extension, said the plan will now go to a full meeting of Cork County Council for approval within days.
The plan has already passed the public consultation process, and there were no submissions, other than queries from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
The approval, given by the councillors this week, was part of a planning procedure, known as a Part 8. This occurs when the Council is seeking planning permission for work in its own jurisdiction.
The new 900m, which will be ‘off road and set back’ will connect the existing walkway along the old railway line to Billy Cahalane’s service station, and it will tie in with the town’s newly-constructed footpaths.
In addition, a new pedestrian crossing will allow walkers gain safe access to the Graham Norton Walk, which runs along the riverside into Bandon town. Aoife Mahony confirmed to the Council members that site works took place before the nesting season and it is hoped that work will get underway as early as June.
Fianna Fáil Cllrs Gillian Coughlan and Sean O’Donovan said the completion of the walkway link would be a big asset to the town, but they requested that it be adequately lit.
Fine Gael Cllrs Kevin Murphy, Marie O’Sullivan and John O’Sullivan thanked the Council for advancing a project which they say will be a big attraction to the town, and they questioned the status of the proposed greenway from Cork city to West Cork. Aoife Mahony said TII is looking at the greenway and it has been agreed that it will be developed in sections as part of a prioritisation project.
‘This is a fantastic project,’ said Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind).
‘We have been pushing for this for a long time.’
Cllr Coleman also suggested that the Bandon Kinsale Municipal District ‘should be looking at the Kilpatrick Tunnel, which was the first railway tunnel in the country’, and linking it as a project.
