Call for Derry-Strabane cycle path

A member of the Derry City and Strabane District Council has asked for the possibility of linking the two areas via a cycle path to be looked at. The suggestion came during a meeting of the council’s Environment and Regeneration Committee, which held at the Strabane council offices. At the meeting, Ross McGill of the Sustrans group presented the Northwest Greenway Plan. Sustrans are a charity who to enable people to travel more by foot, bike or public transport. Mr McGill told the meeting that in council had been developing local greenways since the establishment of an access forum in 1999, and to date have delivered 250km of cycling and walking provision throughout both Derry and Strabane. He said that of this, 172km are on road, 78km are traffic free with the remaining 28km are classified as ‘high quality greenways’. He continued a steering Group was established in January of 2015 comprising of the Northwest Cross Border Region Group (NWCBRG), Derry City and Strabane District Council, Donegal County Council and Travel NI to develop a new Greenway Plan for the Northwest Region inclusive of the new Council area and northwest Donegal. The plan will now be submitted to Donegal County Council for endorsement, and will then be used to bid for funding from a pot of €15m which was announced at the beginning of December to develop cross border greenway initiatives. SDLP councillor Patsy Kelly, asked Mr McGill about the possibility of a cycle path linking Derry and Strabane. He added that the 16 mile journey would be ‘good exercise’ rather than taking a car, and would also act as a ‘tourist attraction’. Responding, Mr McGill said a ‘quarter’ of a cycle path between Derry and Strabane ‘had already been built’, as the cycle path already extended to the Ballougry Road. Meanwhile, the Sinn Fein councillor Christopher Jackson said the community had seen the ‘benefits’ of the Waterside Greenway, as more people were now cycling or walking to work. The councillors endorsed the plan, with a funding application to be lodged before the closing date of January 16.