Council 'lagging far behind' Longford with work on Finea Abbeylara walkway

Westmeath County Council is “lagging far behind” its counterpart in Longford when it comes to the planned walkway and cycleway from Finea to Abbeylara, according to Cllr Paddy Hill.

Speaking at the September meeting of Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District, Cllr Hill said that it seemed to him that “Longford County Council is racing ahead of us and we are way lagging behind”.

“Twenty five thousand euros has already been granted to Longford over 12 months ago to carry out a feasibility study and €50k has been granted to them two or three months ago for work to commence. Longford County Council will be commencing work in the next few days. We are really lagging behind and this is an important project as far as the village of Finea is concerned.”

Responding to Cllr Hill's question on the issue, MKMD said that it is “awaiting formal notification from the Department in relation to funding as publicised on the Department’s website”.

“Once confirmation is received consultants will be procured to carry out a feasibility study for this project.”

Speaking at the March meeting of MKMD where the walkway and cycleway was first discussed, Cllr Hill said that it would be a boost for the area.

"I think it will be a great project. It will be very safe," he said, and would be of great benefit to Finea and Abbeylara.

"The infrastructure is there already and a lot of it is going through Coillte land, where there are good roads, so it wouldn’t take a huge amount of money."