Second Round of Consultation on Royal Canal Urban Greenway

The second round of public consultation has opened up starting on May 25th, 2021 about the Royal Canal Urban Greenway, which is a proposed pedestrian and cycle route that runs along the Royal Canal towpath. This route will run from Castleknock through Blanchardstown, Coolmine, Clonsilla, and then Hansfield to the Fingal County boundary with Kildare.

This public discussion will provide an opportunity for all interested parties such as the community to give feedback on the potential route options for the Royal Canal Urban Greenway. This 6-week virtual public consultation will take place from the 25th May 2021 to July 7th, 2021. It will be a virtual public consultation due to the current climate and circumstances people are in because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since it isn’t possible for people to meet in-person, community engagement and citizen engagement will be taking place online, so everyone who wants to partake in this public consultation will be able to.

Fingal County Council has made a substantial amount of background materials for this public consultation, and all of it is available on the Fingal County Council website and consultation portal that can be accessed by anyone.

This route will become a landmark and will deliver a nationally important piece of infrastructure that is being delivered by the Fingal County Council in conjunction with the National Transport Authority and Waterways Ireland. It will encourage recreational activities and offer attractive alternative transport choices for school children, commuters, bringing significant environmental, economic, and health benefits to the wider community.

What Are The Key Features Of The Proposed Scheme For The Royal Canal Urban Greenway

• Makes sure to respect the environment and heritage

• It will improve recreation and provide tourist attractions

• Improves connectivity for the community and citizens

• It provides a sustainable link to train stations and buses

• Links to the cycle network which also improves community connectivity

• It gives pedestrians and cyclists a safe route to travel and commute

Purpose Of The Public Consultation

The purpose of the virtual public consultation is to give the community and public a chance to provide feedback and comments on the proposed design for the Royal Canal Urban Greenway. Once all of the feedback is received, the feedback will be considered, and improvements and changes can be made to the route so it can serve the community and the public in a greater way. Even though a traditional, in-person public consultation event cannot take place because of the COVID-19 pandemic and public health restrictions, this feedback for the route is very important and it is encouraged that you take part in the round of public consultation.

Background Of The Project

Having Green Infrastructure is a key objective of the current Fingal Development Plan, this development plan is going to last from 2017 to 2023. The Royal Canal Urban Greenway plays an integral part in achieving this Green Infrastructure objective.

There are many benefits that this project will give to the community and the public. These benefits range from environmental, social, and economic to the County, and these benefits will have a positive impact on the following areas:

• Landscape

• Biodiversity

• Sustainable Water Management

• Parks, Open Space, and Recreation

• Archaeological and Architectural Heritage

There are many other benefits that the Royal Canal Urban Greenway will have. These will be talked about here. The benefits of this project are:

• Promoting physical activities, health, and wellbeing

• Promoting more recreational activities for citizens in the County

• Enhancing and protecting the historic Royal Canal

• Facilitating different modes of sustainable travel like walking and cycling. This will help improve traffic congestion and air quality

• Provide a safe environment for recreational activity that can be used by the entire community

• Encourages visitors and tourists to visit the area and enjoy themselves

• Adds connectivity to the Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network

• Improving connectivity between Blanchardstown, Coolmine, Clonsilla, and Hansfield and the wider Fingal area

• Encourages Tourism so the local and regional economies are supported

• Fulfils the different regional and national development plan objectives that are in place

What Has Already Happened For This Project?

An Emerging Preferred Route for the Royal Canal Urban Greenway was first published by Fingal County Council in late 2019. Members from the community and the public were invited to give their feedback, comments, and any observations on the Preferred Route using the Fingal County Council Consultation Portal. Over 590 people were involved and gave their feedback and observations which were considered as Fingal County Council moved advanced with this scheme.

What You Can Do Now

If you are interested in providing feedback for the Royal Canal Urban Greenway, then you have the opportunity to do this during this second round of public consultation. You will have the opportunity to review plans and give feedback. The closing date for this feedback will be 7th July 2021 and you can use postal and online methods, details here: https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/royal-canal-urban-greenway .

What Will Happen After This Second Phase?

After the second phase of the public consultation has been completed, the feedback will be reviewed that has been provided by the public, and plans to Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA) will be progressed.

The design team for this project will consider the feedback received and they will assess how to best address the various issues that were raised in the feedback. This consideration process will include discussions with all the stakeholders, which include landowners, the National Transport Authority, Waterways Ireland, and Irish Rail.

Your feedback can help make the Royal Canal Urban Greenway greater for you and the community. Encouraging community engagement and citizen engagement with this project and the virtual public consultation will only help improve the area and bring many benefits along with it.

The Public Consultation Institute of Ireland (PCII) is committed to engaging citizens and empowering communities through the use of emerging technologies, which are transforming how Government and citizens communicate and interact. PCII’s mission is to bring more people into the public participatory process. Not only will this expand informed public engagement, early studies suggest that it is likely to enhance the diversity and quality of partipartipation. View a list of public consultations currently open at www.publicconsultation.ie