Oakwood campaign has a happy ending
Not long ago, the National Roads Authority and Kerry County Council proposed to put the new Tralee/Killarney road on a route which would have desecrated the magnificent oakwood rich in flora and fauna with trees some hundreds of years old.
It was not to be. Over a decade ago, on a damp, wet and windy Sunday evening, a group of environmentalists with vision and hope met in Tralee to form the Save Ballyseedy Wood Committee.
Little did they know of the long, hard battle ahead with the NRA and the county council exerting enormous pressure to force the road through the wood, even offering piecemeal destruction of the wood in return for additional parcels of land elsewhere.
Great credit must be given to the then committee chairman, Denis Tagney of Killerisk, who brought the case for saving the wood to Europe under the EU habitats directive.
The EU found in favour of saving the wood and an alternative route for the road had to be explored.
It is indeed ironic that Kerry County Council are now the forerunners in the current development of the wood as a recreational amenity.
How times change.
We now have a new road AND a magnificent wood that will be there always for this generation and those to follow.
Truly, a great victory for people and for democracy.
Maybe the winds of change bringing respect for our environment have finally blown in the direction of bureaucrats and Government.
Teddy Foley
Clahane
Ballyard
Tralee
Co Kerry
