Magan's world

MANCHÁN MAGAN'stales of a travel addict

MAYO PEOPLE DON’T see obstacles the way the rest of us do, it’s as if the buccaneering spirit of Gráinne Mhaol never died. The Great Western Greenway is a fine example. This spectacular walking/cycling route from Achill to Westport couldn’t possibly exist in the world as the rest of us know it. You simply would never get agreement from the scores of landowners along the route to surrender control of a strip of their land and allow a broad, gravelled trail be built across it – in theory, lowering the value of their property and making access to it more awkward. Why would anyone voluntarily agree when no compensation was being offered?

The idea of opening the old Midland Great Western Railway line as a traffic-free cycling and walking trail was scoffed at by experts when it was first raised. The line had closed in 1937 and the land had been absorbed back into local ownership, with houses built right up against it in places. Only a few idealistic fools would ever agree to allowing access, and yet in 2010 the first 18km of the Greenway, from Newport to Mulranny, opened, while the two extensions linking south to Westport and west to Achill formally opened in July 2011, lengthening the route to 42km, mostly off-road.

How they achieved it is of enormous interest to all of us who’d like to be able to walk through our local landscape. The key seems to have been community cooperation: everyone realising that if they all compromised a little and surrendered some control it would lead to great benefits for all. The likelihood is that out of any 10 landowners, two might immediately sign up, five others would remain sceptical, waiting to be convinced, with three dead-set against it. Over months, the organisers met with each landowner individually to discuss every aspect of the project and gradually people were brought around, made to realise that the terms of “permissive access” would enable them keep control.

One of the most influential factors was women remembering how they used to play along the railway line as children and frustrated now at the lack of safe places to walk and for their children to play. No money was paid for land, but the county council erected gates and built walls and bridges to allay the concerns of individual land owners. In a few cases where one final owner would not surrender, they went around him.

The process took an enormous amount of time and energy, but it brought the community closer than they had ever been before and made them feel like strong stakeholders in the project. This is particularly visible along the Westport to Newport section where families are planting linear gardens and orchards to beautify the route. Compulsory purchase might have been easier, but would have alienated the community.

So, after all this work by the community and Mayo Co Council, Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport was it worth it? Hell yes! Up to 80,000 people will use it in its first year, spending around €7 million in the local economy. Already, nearly 47 per cent of businesses indicate that the Greenway has led to increased business and 38 new jobs have been created, with a further 56 existing jobs sustained.

The new bike rental companies and the culinary and art trails established along the route are just the beginning of the many benefits that the community will reap as the route becomes established and is extended down through Delphi valley to Leenaun and along the old Clifden railway to Galway.

Do not allow this year go by without experiencing this most innovative and beautiful tourism development. The point at which the trail sweeps through forest along the coast, west of Mulranny, may be the most beautiful spot in Ireland.