Today, 12 years since it was first proposed by the Drogheda Trails Committee, the idea of providing a cycling and walking route from Mornington to Drogheda is officially dead in the water after An Bord Pleanála gave the project the thumbs down to the planning application from Meath County Council.
In their report, the Bord cites fears that the Boyne Greenway, which was mooted as a safe route from the coast to Drogheda for cycling, walking and running, would constitute a source of disruption to birdlife in the Boyne estuary which is a Special Area of Conservation.
“The Board is not satisfied that mitigation measures proposed will be effective in preventing disturbance of the special conservation interest waterbirds and cannot place any reliance of post consent monitoring to identify adverse effects” they said..
“…the increased level of usage by pedestrians and cyclists associated with the greenway will increase human activity along this stretch of the Boyne Estuary resulting in potential adverse effects on the wintering waterbirds of the Boyne Estuary Special Protection Area in terms of their range, timing, and intensity of use of the intertidal” they added.
The Board also expressed fears about adverse effects on sand dune habitats of the Boyne Coast and Estuary Special Area of Conservation, in particular the priority habitat fixed coastal dunes with herbaceous vegetation (grey dunes).
“The Board can place no reliance on post consent monitoring to identify any further adverse effects or apply additional mitigation measures.”
Geoff Fitzpatrick, a member of the Boynside Trail Committee which was born out of the Local Heroes campaign as a means of increasing tourism and travel infrastructure in the Drogheda and East Meath area, told Drogheda Life this afternoon that he and other committee members were extremely disappointed with the decision.
“I’m disappointed of course, but I also think it is a very bad decision when you consider that St. Mary’s/East Meath is one of the fastest growing electoral areas in the country with a population growth of 38.7 percent in the last five years.
Mr. Fitzpatrick didn’t buy the reasons given for the planning refusal either. “It’s ludicrous” he said. “How come the whole of the Netherlands coast and large areas of the French and Italian coasts are areas of special conservation but all of them also have cycleways?”
Disappointed as he was, Mr Fitzpatrick said that the matter need not end there.
“We looked at 15 different routes for the greenway when we were drawing up the plans and we will have to look at putting together a new application.
“The bigger question though, is: how do we build communities where people can enjoy their lives and move around in safety? I am a keen cyclist and runner but there is no way I would cycle or run along the Mornington Road as it is today, it’s far too dangerous. What about green transport?
“What’s next? He asked in exasperation. This simply isn’t good enough.”
