Public consultation opens on Sligo Leitrim Northern Counties Railway (SLNCR) Greenway

Leitrim County Council, in partnership with Sligo County Council, Cavan County Council, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council under the auspices of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) are developing the Sligo, Leitrim, Northern Counties Railway (SLNCR) Greenway.

This project is to provide a high-quality greenway from Sligo town to Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, passing through Collooney, Ballintogher, Dromahair, Manorhamilton, Glenfarne, Blacklion, Belcoo and Letterbreen on the way.

The development of the SLNCR Greenway will attract domestic and international visitors to come, explore and stay in the region.  The surrounding areas contain attractive scenery and an opportunity for users to interact with nature whilst benefitting from outdoor activity.

The SLNCR Greenway will be a ‘world class’ Greenway linking the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland, bringing communities together and promoting cross border tourism.

Arup have been appointed by Leitrim County Council to provide multi-disciplinary engineering and other specialist consultancy services.  That is to bring the Project through the planning process in the Republic of Ireland plus to provide tender documents for Construction of the proposed Greenway in compliance with Transport Infrastructure Ireland Project Management Guideline documents.

The Project is currently at Phase 1 Concept and Feasibility.  The purpose of Phase 1 is to develop and investigate in further detail the feasibility of the Project, to identify a suitable study area for the examination of preliminary route options and to implement the project management structure.

Public consultation forms an important part of advancing the design process towards the development of route options and allows the involvement of the public in identifying key constraints.

Public consultation on the study area and constraints is planned from Monday 16 January to Friday 10 February 2023.  This consultation will be held to inform stakeholders of the proposed Greenway Project and study area.  This consultation is being held online through our project website which contains all the information that will be displayed at the in-person public consultation.  This includes an interactive map of the study area and constraints and a feedback page for the submission of comments or queries,  The project website is accessible at www.slncr-greenway.com.

The public consultation in-person events will take place as follows:

• Sligo Park Hotel and Leisure Club – Tuesday 24 January 2023 from 10.30 am – 8.00 pm (Pearse Road, Sligo, F91 Y762)
• The Rainbow Ballroom – Wednesday 25 January 2023 from 10.30 am – 8.00 pm (Brockagh Lower, Glenfarne, Co Leitrim, F91 RK54)
• Belcoo Community Centre – Thursday 26 January 2023 from 10.30 am – 8.00 pm (68 Latone Road, Belcoo, BT93 4EA)

Alternatively, hard copies of brochures and comment sheets are available for collection from the offices below or call 028 9089 0900 or request a copy via slncr-greenway@arup.com.

• Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, County Buildings, 15 East Bridge Street, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh BT74 7BW
• Leitrim County Council, Manorhamilton Branch Library, Main Street, Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim, F91 C862
• Cavan County Council, Cavan Courthouse, Farnham Street Abbeyland, Cavan, H12 R6V2
• Sligo County Council, County Hall, Riverside, Sligo, F91 Y763

Comment sheets can be submitted via the Contact Us feedback page on the Project website or emailed to slncr-greenway@arup.com or by post to one of the following addresses:

• Arup, Bedford House, 16-22 Bedford Street, Belfast, BT2 7FD
• Arup, 50 Ringsend Road, Dublin, D04 T6X0

The closing date for submissions is 5pm on Friday 10 February 2023.

Leitrim County Council values the opinion of the community on the project and welcomes comments from the public and interested parties.