The meeting was well attended by staff from the local authorities in the region which are currently working on Greenways and Blueways in each county.
The launch of the OUR WAY project comes at a good time for the region as the government’s Department of Transport, Tourism and Sports recently a launched a National Strategy for the Development of Greenways along with a fund of €53m for Local Authorities to develop regional and National Greenways.
At the stakeholder meeting, Caitlín Conneely, Assistant Director at the Northern Western Regional Assembly presented the aims and objectives of the OUR WAY project an explained the important role stakeholders will play in developing the action plan and extending the greenway network within the region.
Patrick Devine, Project Officer on the OUR WAY project gave an overview of the current and planned greenways and presented details National Strategy for the Development of Greenways.
The group also had the opportunity to learn more about the Great Western Greenway which was presented by Padraig Philbin from Mayo County Council. The Great Western Greenway is one of the most successful Greenways developments in Ireland and a model which other Local Authorities can learn from. The stakeholder group discussed the current opportunity to apply to the Department’s fund of €53m for developing greenways and the options for securing land access to develop greenways. The group also mentioned that a number of the public consultation events were
recently hosted by Local Authorities to discuss with members of the public route options and timeline for development.
The Northern and Western Regional Assembly looks forward to hosting the next partner meeting and Interregional learning workshop which take place in Ireland in March 2019.
