Clare County Council, with the support of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, is currently progressing the West Clare Railway Greenway between Kilrush to Kilkee (Section 1), Ennis to Ennistymon (Section 2), and Ennistymon to Miltown Malbay and Miltown Malbay to Moyasta (Section 3&4). The West Clare Railway Greenway project aims to provide a recreational greenway, following the route of the former West Clare Railway, where feasible. This recreational greenway has the potential to connect towns and villages along the route, including Ennis, Corofin, Ennistymon, Lahinch, Miltown Malbay, Quilty, Mullagh, Doonbeg, Kilkee, Moyasta, and Kilrush. The West Clare Railway Greenway project will mainly be used for recreational purposes by pedestrians, cyclists, and people with impaired mobility.

The Department of Transport’s Code of Best Practice for National and Regional Greenways describes a Greenway is an attractive trail mainly used for recreational purposes by pedestrians, cyclists and people with impaired mobility, and as such promotes physical activity for these users. The popularity of recently opened Greenways throughout Ireland demonstrates the many benefits that they can promote, including the provision of safe, substantially segregated walking and cycling infrastructure that makes it easier to visit friends, travel to school or work and to connect villages and towns. On a wider scale, Greenways are providing opportunities to experience Ireland’s beautiful countryside for both visitors and locals alike, contributing to Ireland’s health and wellbeing, enhancing local communities with opportunities for new and existing businesses, and offering sustainable alternatives for tourists and locals to access a hidden Ireland.

The project team are committed to fully consider any inputs from members of the public, such as submissions received through the public consultation process or through the identification of local issues. We would value any feedback which you think should be reviewed by the project team to help inform the development of the project. Please refer to Public Consultation page of this Project Website for information on how you can have your say.

It is the objective of the design team to ensure that the impact on properties as a result of the proposed development is avoided or minimised insofar as possible. At this stage of the process, the route corridor options are broad, and until a preferred route corridor option is selected and the greenway designed, it is not possible to determine the exact impacts, if any, there may be on your property. It is not the intention of the design team that the footprint of any houses or gardens would be directly impacted by the proposed greenway. Once the preferred route corridor option is selected, environmental assessments on the route will be undertaken and mitigation will be proposed by specialists to reduce any impacts on properties insofar as possible.

The project team (including Clare County Council and the scheme consultants ROD) will review and consider the submissions received through the public consultation process. Where deviations or improvements to the route corridor options are suggested by members of the public that may have a lesser impact on constraints identified, these will be reviewed and considered by the design team. Where new information on local constraints is provided this will also be considered in the Multi Criteria Analysis of the Route Corridor Options. Any submission forms received will be reviewed and considered in the option selection process and scheme design.

The Code of Best Practice for National and Regional Greenways promotes the use of Voluntary Land Acquisition Agreements as the preferred means of acquiring lands. Where private land acquisition is necessary following the selection of the preferred route corridor, Clare County Council will engage with individual landowners in an effort to agree upon a route that minimises the impact on their respective farm / property holdings and will seek to enter into Voluntary Land Acquisition Agreements where possible. The process of agreeing Voluntary Land Acquisition Agreements will be initiated in advance of Clare County Council making an application for planning consent. An early sign-on payment will be paid by Clare County Council to the landowner once a Voluntary Agreement has been signed and the farmer’s / landowner’s Solicitor has provided satisfactory evidence that good title is available. This early sign-on payment, where applicable, will be over and above the negotiated land acquisition / compensation payment to be determined between the landowner and the project promoter due to the potential effects of the scheme on the landholding. Where it does not prove possible to establish a Voluntary Land Acquisition Agreement, it may be necessary to exercise the compulsory purchase mechanism. This mechanism will, however, only be exercised as a last resort and in circumstances where for example: (i) A Voluntary Agreement between parties cannot be agreed upon following comprehensive negotiation. (ii) An alternative economically feasible route that satisfies the scheme objectives and Code of Best Practice criteria does not exist. (iii) There are legal issues e.g unregistered land, proof of ownership (clean title) etc. Any landowner whose land is affected will be entitled to compensation in accordance with legislation and practice.

The proposed development will improve accessibility for local communities, including improved connectivity between towns and villages, in addition to tourist, employment and educational amenities. The development has the potential to create local employment and enterprise opportunities, particularly in the hospitality and leisure industries, while also provide sustainable infrastructure to promote and encourage the uptake of active travel modes.