North Down: Council shelves coastal path upgrade plans

Almost £300,000 has been spent on the project to date

A multi-million pound plan to create a greenway on the County Down coastline is to be scrapped.

The plan had been to create a 20-mile greenway along the coast between Holywood and Donaghadee.

In spite of more than two years of planning, with almost £300,000 spent already, Ards and North Down Council voted overwhelmingly to shelve the project on Thursday night.

In a full meeting of the council, no one voted against the move.

The two largest parties on the 40-member council, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Alliance Party, made it clear in advance of the meeting that they did not support the greenway.

Independent councillor Ray McKimm was the first to propose the shelving of the project at the meeting.

He said the project was "too big" for the council and called for the withdrawal of the planning application.

He recommended a working group be set up to look at the existing north Down coastal path, and explore accessibility, maintenance and connectivity issues.

When the project was first announced, supporters argued it would enhance the health and wellbeing of the north Down area and attract more visitors.

A group of more than 50 campaigners opposed to the £7m project gathered outside the meeting in Bangor.

They raised safety issues as well as concerns about the environmental impact of path-widening and resurfacing work.

Earlier, North Down assembly member Stephen Dunne of the DUP issued a statement on Twitter.

He said: "The North Down Coastal Path is a wonderful local amenity enjoyed by thousands all year round. Its uniqueness must be preserved. Council needs to think again and get a new way forward."

Plans for the new 20-mile (32km) greenway divided opinion in the area.

The Alliance Party called on Wednesday for the planning application to be withdrawn, saying the consultation process had been badly organised by the council.

It holds 10 of the 40 seats on the council, with the DUP holding 13.

• North Down coastal path plan may hit the rocks

More details of the proposed greenway are on the Ards and North Down Council website.

It states that the maximum width of the path would have been four metres, and the majority of the existing path - 59% - would not have needed to be widened.