Galway Bay FM Newsroom - A planned Greenway extending from Athlone to Galway could be delayed for years if a satisfactory agreement is not reached with local residents about the route.
That's the warning issued by some councillors at this month's meeting of Galway County Council - as they called for a new "hybrid" approach.
The discussion about the Athlone to Galway Greenway arose at this week's County Council meeting as a result of a motion from Councillor Jimmy McClearn who suggested a hybrid model should be applied to the route.
He instanced cases where he said it would be more appropriate to have a link branching out from the main route to different localities.
The main concern, Councillor McClearn said was a route and a project that would take the concerns of landowners and local residents into account - and, he said, those concerns are very real.
The Greenway, he said, was of no benefit whatever to many local people.
Councillor Andrew Reddington stated that agreement with local people is vital and that a Greenway will always be contentious unless that is achieved.
Councillor Noel Thomas said that a hybrid model, where sections of a Greenway may have a different status, would not be workable.
He said that a Greenway has to be equally open to everybody, a place he said where you can let your kids out for a cycle.
