AN APPLICATION FOR a major greenway in Blessington, Co Wicklow has been denied by An Bord Pleanála.

A total of €6.4 million was allocated to the project as part of plans to widely expand Ireland’s walking and cycling greenways in 2020 and the loop path in Blessington has been waiting to get underway since 2022.

An Bord Pleanála adjudicators denied the application last week, however.

The inspector report, published by a local conservation group this week, details that the board was not satisfied that the project would not have adverse impacts on the surrounding area of the Wicklow Mountains.

An Bord Pleanála also decided to refuse permission for the project to get underway after, they claimed, there was insufficient reportage carried out into the environmental impact of the project.

The Board Direction states that there was an “absence” of detail on what impact, if any, the greenway construction would have had on the water quality of the nearby reservoir and, separately, the drinking-water quality in the river.

It also details that the project had not assessed how native bird species would be impacted by elevated pedestrian and cyclist presence. 

Denying the project, the report says that inspectors were not satisfied that the view of the Wicklow Mountains, protected under EU law, would not be impacted by the construction of the project either.

“In overall conclusion, the Board is not satisfied on the basis of the information on file, that the proposed development would not adversely affected the integrity of the European sites in view of the [greenway's] conservation objectives,” it said.

The Blessington Greenway would have consisted of 33 kilometres of walking and cycling paths surrounding the Blessington Loop, along the banks of the nearby river and Poulaphouca Reservoir.

Planning got underway in 2017, locally, with the project being approved by Wicklow councillors.

Further capital funding, which was included in a €63.5 million package and later injected into the project in 2020, helped to speed up the planning process.

A total of 290 public submissions, both in support of and against the greenway, were put to the inspectors for consideration. Some entries recommended amenities such as toilet facilities while other questioned the impact the project could have on the local habitats.

One frequent critique in many of the submissions from local residents and landowners was that there little engagement over proposals to downgrade the bridges along the lakes to single-lane roads and other traffic management plans.

The major project was set to begin construction as soon as planning was approved. It would have been completed in six, separate sections in and around the areas near the river and reservoir.

Tree removal and replanting, ditch clearing, electric vehicle charging points, drinking-water stations, mounted CCTV posts, car-parking spaces and public bins were to be added to almost every section of the project.