A convoy is to travel to the Louth County Council buildings in Dundalk on Friday, August 30 to submit petitions to the local authority against the proposed Carlingford to Dundalk Greenway.
Organisers have called for a range of vehicles to join the convoy, including tractors, cars and lorries.
An estimated 1,000 submissions and over 2,000 signatures against the greenway have been gathered, according to Matthew McGreehan, an organiser of the convoy this Friday.
McGreehan told Agriland the convoy will go from the Cooley peninsula to the county council offices in Dundalk to hand the submissions to officials there.
Louth County Council is developing proposals for the greenway with the support of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
McGreehan said he doesn’t want to see the greenway “tear through” farms and for there to be an “invasion of privacy” for those living on land that has been in their families for years, and for those who have just recently moved to the area.
This land, he explained, “will be lost forever if we let it happen”.
Those participating in the convoy are asked to gather at the Cooley Kickhams grounds on the Cooley peninsula before departing for Dundalk at 9:00a.m on Friday.
Louth IFA county chair Kevin Sweeney previously told Agriland that the study area for the Carlingford to Dundalk Greenway includes around 11,500ac of agricultural lands and 128 farmyards.
Sweeney said that greenways should be predominantly on State-owned public lands and avoid impacting on private farmland.
“The IFA is opposed to severance of farms or compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) for amenity projects like greenways,” he said.
The organisers the convoy on Friday are “totally against” the use of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) in this case of greenways, McGreehan said.
A second public consultation is currently underway with the closing date for submissions being September 6, 2024.
Kevin Callan, Cathaoirleach at Louth County Council stated on social media: “Consultation process on Cooley Greenway Project must take into consideration local observations, submissions and objections.
“Any project being placed on or near peoples homes and farms must not proceed unless agreed by those it will impact on most. As such the need to feed into the consultation process is crucial.
“I encourage everyone to have their say as part of the non-statutory consultation process before September 6,” Callan added.