Greenway cycle CPO plan ‘unacceptable’

The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association has said the Greenway cycle plan cannot be implemented through a process of compulsory purchase orders or without proper consultation with landowners.

ICSA rural development committee chairman Seamus Sherlock said the whole process has been discredited because of an arrogant or heavy-handed approach in which routes were designed from the sky without any understanding of how this might interfere with farmers.

”There is no justification for insisting on a route that dissects working farms in half. All options should be looked at including segregated on-road, off-road and cycle trails. Where possible, state lands should be used,” he said.

ICSA is asking for proper consultation, the use of non-farm land where possible, including on-road routes and that farmland should be considered only where there is complete consensus with all farmers in a given area.

“Even then, we cannot accept route plans which split farm holdings or interfere with the normal commercial activities of farms. CPOs are totally unacceptable as this is not essential infrastructure but is in fact an experimental tourism project,” Mr Sherlock said.