At a recent Fingal County Council meeting on 8th February Cllr Karen Power asked for an update on the progress of the Fingal Coastal way. Fingal County Council is proposing to develop a 32 Km which will provide a high quality, safe, attractive and environmentally sympathetic coastal walking and cycling route to serve Fingal that will run through Newbridge Demesne, Donabate, Rush, Loughshinny, Skerries and Balbriggan.

The proposed rural and urban greenway will encourage active recreation such as walkers, joggers and cyclists while offering an attractive alternative transport choice for school children and commuters, bringing significant environmental, economic and health benefits to Fingal. undergoing option design and consultation with stakeholders and more engagement from Fingal County Council will happen when level 5 restrictions ease.

You can see more details on the consultation held in 2019. https://consult.fingal.ie/ga/consultation/fingal-coastal-way

COMHAIRLE CONTAE FHINE GALL - FINGAL COUNTY COUNCIL COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY 8TH FEBRUARY 2021 ITEM NO. 7

FINGAL COASTAL WAY

Question: Councillor K. Power “To ask the Chief Executive for dates for the public consultation on the route options for the Fingal Coastal Way and to provide details as to the reasons for the delay to date?”

Reply Following a series of public consultations in late 2019 around the opportunities and constraints facing the proposed Fingal Coastal Way, the development of the route options has progressed well. Given the ambition and scale of this 32km scheme, the significant number of properties potentially affected by the various options and the ongoing public health restrictions that limit the potential for face to-face interactions, the project team are continuing to investigate the most appropriate communication formats and tools to facilitate constructive engagement with stakeholders and other interested parties. Accordingly, a non-statutory public consultation setting out a small number of routes (c.3-5 route options) over the entire route corridor, with associated descriptions of each option, is envisaged to take place in late Spring 2021. Given the previous strong feedback from Members on the need for traditional as well as virtual/online consultation formats, the exact dates and format will be determined as soon as there is more certainty on the timing of public health restrictions being reduced from the current Level 5.