Bord na Móna gets green light for walking and cycle track outside Athlone

Westmeath County Council has granted planning permission for a seven-kilometre cycle and walkway track on Bord na Móna lands outside Athlone.

The planning authority has given the go-ahead for the project subject to 12 conditions, including that the bogland areas should be left “as undisturbed as possible” during the creation of the walking/cycle track and that hedgerow, tree or scrub removal should not take place during the bird breeding season.

The council has also stipulated that the services of a suitably qualified archaeologist be engaged to carry out an archaeological assessment of the site, and that a programme of “test excavation” be carried out in the areas where the proposed shared walking and cycling trail crosses peatland or green field.

Bord na Móna Energy Ltd submitted a planning application in October for the recreational shared cycle and walkway on its lands in the townlands of Derries, Carrickobrien, Bunnahinly, Clonbonny, Corralena, Kilgarvan Glebe, Ballinahownwood and Ballinahown, and through parts of the existing Bunahinly and Kilgarvan bogs

The project willl see the repurposing of 3,412 metres of existing former rail bed, 3,131 metres along existing bog headlands/former high fields, and 473 metres along pre-existing machine access routes.

Other elements of the plan include car and bicycle parking facilities at a number of locations along the rout; the provision of EV charging spaces; a modular pavilion; upgrades to the entrance from the local road, and upgrades to four local access road crossings and three agricultural crossings, and the erection of signage for the project.

The recreational shared cycle and walkway through Bord na Móna lands in Westmeath is part of an EU 'Just Transition' projectwhich would see a Midlands Trail Network of connected walking and cycling trails being created across the Midlands. As well as Westmeath, the trails are proposed for Offaly, Longford, Roscommon and Tipperary.