Councils may have to bridge the gap in Kilkenny Greenway funding

Kilkenny County Council may have to delve into its own coffers to bridge some of the gap in the funding required to build the new Kilkenny Greenway, local councillors have heard.

While €8 million in grant funding has been secured under the Department of Transport’s greenway fund, the project is estimated to cost up to €13.5 million, leaving a €5.5 million shortfall. The three local authorities developing the project — Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny — will have to stump up the balance unless further grant funding can be secured.

At the December meeting of Kilkenny County Council, Cllr Fidelis Doherty asked what the position was now in relation to the shortfall in funding. Director of services Sean McKeown confirmed an application for €2 million was made under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), but it had been unsuccessful.

“The balance would have to be funded by the three local authorities, as it stands,” he said.

Mr McKeown also said that vegetation clearance had begun in the last couple of weeks as part of site investigations, which are taking place up to half a metre either side of each line.

Work on the detailed design is continuing, expected this side of Christmas. Mr McKeown said the Department of Transport wanted to see this detailed design because they are still formalising the guidelines for greenways nationally. The drawings will be sent to the Department, which will require around two months to review and approve the plan. Mr McKeown said the proposed location of carparks was also being looked at, and he was due to attend a meeting on the matter.

The three councils are still waiting to hear whether they will have to take a lease on the line, or if it will be abandoned: “On the abandonment order, since we wrote to CIE over the summer seeking the line be abandoned, all we have got back was an acknowledgment letter in September acknowledging receipt of that,” he said.

“So Wexford have sought a meeting with the TII to see where it’s at.”

CIE have indicated that the abandonment process takes up to six months to formalise, and it would involve a public consultation phase. Mr McKeown said there would hopefully be an update on the matter for the next monthly meeting.