Greenway linking Newbridge House Donnabate to Bremore Castle Balbriggan.

Design work on 32km-long Fingal Coastal Way has commenced

Fingal County Council has commenced design work on the Fingal Coastal Way

project, a 32km, high-quality recreational walking and cycling route connecting

Donabate, Rush, Skerries, Ardgillan Castle, Balbriggan and Bremore Castle.

Multi-disciplinary consultancy Atkins has been appointed to work alongside the Fingal

County Council project team to carry out the feasibility study, route options and

environmental assessment and preliminary design work over a three-year

programme.

The proposed greenway will be an iconic development representing a step-change in

the tourism offering for Fingal, Dublin and the wider northeast region.

The route will start at Newbridge House & Demesne in Donabate and pass along the

majestic coastline of north Fingal, linking the coastal villages and towns and

providing stunning seascapes of the many beaches and cliffs along the route as well

as views to Howth, Lambay Island and the Cooley Mourne mountains ranges to the

north.

The greenway will link into the proposed Broadmeadow Way, which will connect

Donabate and Malahide and for which a planning application is due to be submitted

to An Bord Pleanala in June. To the north there are plans to develop a greenway

route in County Meath running northwards to Drogheda, the Boyne Valley Way and

the prehistoric sites at Bru na Boinne/Newgrange.

The greenway will be a flagship tourist amenity for Fingal and will link into local

attractions such as Newbridge House, Rogerstown Park, Bremore Castle, Ardgillan

Castle, Drumanagh Fort and Skerries Mills.

Paul Carroll, Senior Engineer Strategic Infrastructure Fingal County Council

commented “The benefits that greenways can deliver to communities are

considerable in terms of climate change, economic development and leisure amenity.

The greenway will form part of a developing network of greenways within Fingal,

providing a link into the S2S Sutton to Sandycove scheme and encouraging

sustainable transport for commuting and leisure.”

Public stakeholder consultation will be an essential element of the design process

including discussions with special interest groups, local residents, businesses and

landowners.

Given the scale of the project and the sensitive nature of the receiving environment,

it is envisaged that the route options selection will take place through 2019, with a

public consultation exercise to take place in early 2020. Following on from the

identification of the preferred route, preliminary design and environmental

assessment work will continue through 2020 and early 2021, with a planning

application target date of late 2021.