Decision on controversial Kerry Greenway further delayed

Project first announced in 2014, with a 16-day oral hearing held in 2019

Plans to construct a South Kerry Greenway were first announced in 2014. A decision on the project was due on Friday. An Bord Pleanála now says it will not have a decision until at least the end of the month. Picture: Don MacMonagle 

The long-awaited decision on the planning application for the South Kerry Greenway, and confirmation of a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for over 220 landholdings along the old railway line on the Ring of Kerry, has been further delayed.

An Bord Pleanála was expected to announce its decision on Friday, but now says it will not have a decision until at least the end of the month.

The oral hearing into the application by Kerry County Council for the construction of a 32km paved cycleway took place a year ago and ran over the course of 16 days.

While a decision was expected on Friday, the section dealing with the matter said today there would be a further delay.

First mooted by local development bodies, the "iconic greenway" was announced in 2014 on the Gleesk railway viaduct over Kells Bay and it was to be a flagship project for the network of cycleways promoted by the Department of Transport.

The move by Kerry County Council management, endorsed by a majority of councillors, to use the CPO process for an amenity has proved a particular sticking point and has led to opposition from farmers locally and nationally with protests by the IFA at county buildings in Tralee.

The construction of the Great Southern railway from Killorglin to Caherciveen in 1893 provided access for farmers to markets within and outside of the county.

It quickly became a tourist route and served as a major economic driver for the local economy in south Kerry. Decline in population and industry followed its closure in 1960, and Iveragh and its communities from Glenbeigh to Cahersiveen is now one of the economic blackspots in Co  Kerry.

The council told the oral hearing its motivation for the old railway was similar to the initial objective in the late 19th century  — to revitalise the area economically and socially with the huge interest there is now in cycling and walking.

The cost of the project is estimated as in excess of €20m.