During the recent Green Party Convention in Wexford, I took a walk around the town and came across this:

Wexford Borough Council has instated a policy of temporary pedestrianisation in the centre of the town during weekday business hours.

I’ve always been a proponent of pedestrian areas in the centre of larger towns, although I do think it has to be sensitively managed, particularly in relation to the livelihood of the traders it may affect.

However, given the current problems we have in the centre of Carrick on Shannon in relation to shoppers frequenting the retail parks on the edge of the town, should we start considering a bit of lateral thinking?

Bridge Street and Main Street in Carrick quite often look like car parks more than bustling town streets, and I have no doubt that this atmosphere influences shoppers in their choice of destination.

I think the time has come to look at a Pedestrianisation trial, from the corner at Paddys Pub to the Clock. Its a small enough area and no more than 20 parking spaces would be lost, many of which are already used by traders themselves anyway.

On the Saturday I was in Wexford Town, there was a real buzz about the place, and it was great being able to walk down the street without the din and congestion of constant traffic.

Surely, Carrick should at least consider pedestrianisation as an option?

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Early last year, I made this post in relation to some very heavy handed maintenance carried out by Waterways Ireland on the Lough Allen Canal.

At the time, I wrote to Waterways Ireland and Leitrim County Council asking how heavy duty maintenance work such as this could occur without any oversight re. its environmental impact.

Initially, I received very little response, but after raising the matter in the local media, and publicizing images and video of the damage on the Internet, I was contacted by Paula Tracey in Waterways Ireland who acknowledged that mistakes had been made and that every effort would be made to prevent them happening in future.

Last week, I was again contacted by Waterways Ireland who were able to communicate that they were now in procession of a detailed ecological survey of the area, which they had commissioned on foot of concerns raised by the initial works.

The survey is a very interesting read for people who are familiar with the area, and outlines in the detail the ecological value of the riparian corridor that has developed along the canal.

I am confident that Waterways Ireland now realise this too, and hopefully we won’t see the type of destruction we witnessed last year again.

Download a copy of the report from here

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I recently asked to be removed from the mailing list of the Irish Council Against Bloodsports. The Council has launched a campaign which has targeted the Green Party and John Gormley over the decision by the Minister for the Environment to issue a live hare coursing license to the Irish Coursing Club. Based on hare conservation concerns, the Council did not believe this license should have been issued.

It was explained to the Council on numerous occasions that the Minister was not empowered under any current legislation to refuse to issue the license on conservation grounds, and if he choose to do so, the refusal would be overturned in the Courts.

Despite this, the Council have persisted with their campaign, all the time suggesting that the Minister has this power.

For this reason, ie, that the Council’s campaign is misleading, I decided that I didn’t want to receive their updates anymore.

This prompted a call from Aideen Yourell of the Council, who told me that it was unprecedented for a member of the Green Party not to want to hear from the Council. She also threatened to contact the local media in Roscommon and Leitrim about my decision, and accused me of distancing myself from the ICABS to appease the hunt and blood sports lobby in Co. Roscommon.

A couple of things to make clear:

Aideen and the Council are quite welcome to contact the local media in Roscommon and Leitrim on this or any other issue.

I am implacably opposed to all blood sports and believe that they should be outlawed immediately, but understand that this can only be accomplished by legislation and not by Ministers acting by fiat.

I’m not sure what ICABS think they will achieve either through this campaign or by taking umbrage with individual Green Party members.

If the campaign were directed at the members of the Oireachtas who currently support live hare coursing, I would gladly support it, but I fail to see the point in a campaign that on the one hand is calling for something that isn’t legally possible, and on the other is targeting people amongst whom support for a ban on live hare coursing ban is unanimous.

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The banner on top of this website features a picture of a Wind Farm at Arigna near where I live.

The picture in this post is of what used to be the Owengar River near Drumkeeran, also near where I live, after the landslide which appears to have be caused by the development of a wind farm on Corrie Mountain.

Are these pictures contradictory in any way?

Well, yes, they are.

The Green Party supports the development of renewable energy, and wind technology is obviously an important part of that, but what does the Green Party propose to do about the sort of devastation being caused by the development of wind technology in remote, sensitive locations?

This is a very difficult and serious question.

Wind technology has gravitated to remote, sensitive sites for numerous reasons, but one of these is the resistance to the development of turbines in areas that are less sensitive but closer to residential accommodation.

This is a good example.

As such, the question arises as to where, if anywhere, we can locate wind farms, and if we do *not* wish to develop wind technology, how do we reduce our economic dependency and dwindling, foreign oil reserves?

This debate needs to occur and needs to occur soon.

More pictures available here

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The Draft 2009 - 2015 Leitrim County Development Plan is currently open to public consultation. Submissions in relation to the Plan are invited until May 15th. Further public consultation periods will occur before the Plan is finalised.

The Plan is a lenghty and detailed document, but it will serve as a reference guide for social and economic development in County Leitrim for the next 6 years.

We have identified a number of key aspects of the Plan that relate to urban and rural land use, and given a brief introduction to them in the Guide which is available for download below.

Land use is a key component of the Plan, but it also outlines a lot of other important policies in relation to economic development, environmental protection and social inclusion.

Further details can be found in the Plan itself, which can be downloaded from the Council’s website.

We encourage you to consult the Plan, and to make your opinons known to the Council.

Download our Guide from here

Download the full Plan from here

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I’m lucky enough to live along a very scenic road in Co. Leitrim. The road runs along the canal that connects the lock at Battlebridge to the lock at Drumleague, which is the last lock before Acres Lake and Lough Allen itself. Every cruiser that comes to Lough Allen passes through this canal.

The road also forms part of what is known as the Kingfisher Cycle Trail, a planned cycle route through the North West region. The name is particular apt for the canal, which has always been home to kingfishers. In recognition of this and its general scenic value, the road and the canal are classified as areas of Visual Amenity in the Leitrim County Development Plan.

The road is pictured on the Kingfisher Cycle Trail website:

and described thus:

“We pass through Leitrim village and turn right onto the narrow road skirting the canal at Battlebridge. It is flat, tranquil and leafy along a stretch of water that invites closer scrutiny. Tiny birds dart over the water and disappear again. Larger varieties hoot and caw. With a bit of luck and patience you might even spot a kingfisher, always recognisable by its colourful plumage.”

I’ve also taken some photos of my own over the years:

In summer….

and in winter.

It is therefore unfortunate that the maintenance of this road and canal are the responsibility of Waterway Ireland, whose record in relation to environmental protect is questionable at best.
The pictures shown below were taken over the last week, and show what Waterways Ireland describe as ‘maintenance’.

The entire canal bank was bulldozed, destroying the very hedgerows in which the Kingfishers nested. Waterways Ireland also dredged all of the drains along the canal, destroying the spawning grounds of the thousands of frogs who appear along the lane every summer.
I contacted the National Parks and Wildlife Service about this but to no avail. Waterways Ireland are allowed carry out maintenance on their land, and they can remove hedgerows during the winter months.

This is yet another example of how little significance is attached to visual amenity in Co. Leitrim. The damage inflicted on this area by Waterways Ireland could take a decade to grow out, and then only if they don’t come back and do the same thing again in a couple of years.

Hopefully, some sort of statutory protection can be afforded to the area in the interim.

View more at www.waterwaysofireland.com

Garreth

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