PLANNING PERMISSION GRANTED FROM  BORDER TO MIDDLETOWN

At the May meeting of Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council, Planning Permission for the Border to Middletown section of the Ulster Canal Greenway (2.2km), was approved by the members. This is another important milestone for the project, and with planning approval already in place for the Monaghan Town to the Border section, it means that the Project Team are now progressing with the detailed design and land acquisition stages for the entire project.

It is planned to go to tender for the construction stage of the project in Autumn and programmed to commence works early in 2023.

Public Consultation Phase 3, Smithborough to Clones Route Options

Route Options for Phase 3 of the Ulster Canal Greenway between Smithborough and Clones have now been developed. Public Consultation events are being held for communities along the proposed route of the Greenway. Landowners, local communities and the general public are invited to attend one of these events to review the route options and to provide feedback to the project team. These drop-in sessions will be held in;

Smithborough Community Hall, Tuesday 26th October 5-8pm
The Courthouse, Clones Wednesday 3rd November 5-8pm

Click on the link below to view the Project Brochure which includes drawings showing the route options and details of how you can provide your feedback.

Preferred Route Selected for Monaghan to Smithborough

Following months of delays due to Covid 19 restrictions, the preferred route for the Monaghan to Smithborough leg of the Greenway has finally been selected.

Click on the links below to view drawings of the route.  To keep the file size manageable, we have split the drawings into separate pdf files, each one showing the equivalent of one A3 page-sized section of the route.  

The route is arranged from west to east, ie from the Smithboro end to the Monaghan end, and each file is named by the townlands that it covers. 

To view a file, just click the file name.  To save it to your device, click on the ‘download’ option.

Planning Permission Granted for Monaghan to the Border

At the July meeting of Monaghan County Council, the Part 8 Planning application for the Monaghan Town to the Border section of the Ulster Canal Greenway, (7.8km), was approved by the members. This is an important milestone for the project, and with planning approval for the Border to Middletown section (2.2km) expected later this year from Armagh Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council, it means that the Project Team can now progress to the detailed design and the land acquisition stage.

A further Part 8 application for the Monaghan to Smithborough leg is currently being prepared and will be submitted to Monaghan County Council in the autumn.

Planning Applications submitted

The Ulster Canal Greenway Phase 2 reached an important milestone recently with formal Planning applications for the Monaghan Town to Middletown leg submitted to Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council and Monaghan Co. Council respectively.

Plans and particulars of the Monaghan to the Border section of the proposed development, Planning Ref: 21/8005, will be available for inspection (or purchase at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy) during normal office hours from Thursday, 1st April 2021 until Thursday 29th April 2021 (inclusive) at the following locations:

Monaghan County Council, County Offices, No1 Dublin Street, Monaghan, H18 X982, and their website: https://monaghan.ie/planning/online-planning-tools/

The NI UCG application is uploaded to the NI Planning Portal and under consideration with reference number LA08/2021/0378/F – see link below:

LA08/2021/0378/F | The construction of the Northern Ireland section of the cross border Ulster Canal Greenway between Monaghan Town and Middletown. Consisting of the creation of a 5m wide corridor incorporating: a granular surface course path of gravel and dust, a verge either side and timber guardrails. Additional works include: creation of parking and amenity area near Annagola Bridge, Middletown, and vegetation clearance and enhancement repairs to listed lockkeepers house and historic bridge and lock at Foyduff. | Corridor of land from Ardgonnell Bridge on the border at the River Cor West of No.347 Monaghan Road Co.Armagh to Annagola Bridge Middletown BT60 4JQ (planningni.gov.uk)

A further planning application for the Smithborough to Monaghan leg will be submitted to Monaghan County Council later this year.

Pre-Application Notice

Ulster Canal Greenway from Monaghan Town to Middletown, County Armagh (part within Northern Ireland)

The Planning (Development Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and The Planning (Development Management) Temporary Modifications) (Coronavirus) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020

PUBLIC CONSULTATION EVENT

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, in conjunction with the contracting authority Monaghan County Council, hereby gives notice of its intention to apply to develop a cross border greenway from Monaghan Town to Middletown, County Armagh. Totalling 12.2kms in length, some 2.5kms of this greenway is located in Northern Ireland. It extends from Ardgonnell Bridge on the border, at the River Cor, to Annagola bridge near Middletown.

The proposed greenway in County Armagh follows the route of the Ulster Canal, part of which proceeds alongside the A3 primary road to Middletown. It comprises a 5m corridor incorporating a pathway up to 3m wide with a drainage/buffer verge up to 1m wide on each side. The pathway will consist of an unbound, granular surface course of gravel and dust. Additional works include: erection of one wooden footbridge alongside the existing Ardgonnell roadbridge; creation of parking and amenity area near Annagola Bridge, Middletown; and vegetation clearance and enhancement repairs to listed lockkeepers house (H815/11/033) and historic bridge and lock at Foyduff.

In addition to improving connectivity between communities on both sides of the border, the Greenway is intended to encourage active travel in preference to vehicular transport and to promote the area as a walking/cycling tourist destination.

Further to the public event recently held in the Markethouse, Main St, Middletown on Wednesday 19th August 2020, between the hours of 18:00 and 21:00, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council invites comments from the general public on this proposal.

 This notice does not relate to a planning application; comments should not be made to the Planning Authority within the Council.  Any comments made to the prospective applicant are not representations to the planning authority. When a planning application is subsequently submitted to the Planning Authority within the Council you will have the opportunity to make representation regarding the proposal at that time.

The proposed route of the Greenway is shown at the following website address: https://ulstercanalgreenway.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/sheet-7-of-7-the-border-to-middletown.pdf

Any person wishing to make a comment relating to the proposal can do so via the PAN Feedback Form on the above website https://ulstercanalgreenway.com.  Alternatively, a submission can be made in writing, clearly marked “Cross Border Greenway from Monaghan Town to Middletown” to Dianne Kelly, Corporate Project Officer, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Banbridge Civic Building, Downshire Road, Banbridge, Co. Down, BT32 3JY or at the following email address: dianne.kelly@armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk.

The deadline for submissions is 4.00pm, Wednesday 4th November 2020.

This project is supported by the EU’s INTERREG VA Programme, which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.

Smithboro Information Event Postponed

The information event due to be held on Thursday 27th August 2020 to display the preferred route for the greenway has been postponed, to allow the event organisers to reconfigure the event to take account of recent changes to Covid 19 protocols.

It is hoped to re-organised the event in the very near future. If you are interested in attending the re-organised event, you can register your interest by emailing the Project Manager, Anthony Morrow at amorrow@monaghancoco.ie

Public Information Events August 2020 to view Preferred Route for Greenway Middletown to Smithborough

We are pleased to announce that following a thorough route assessment process, the Preferred Route Corridor for the Ulster Canal Greenway Phase 2, Smithborough to Middletown, has now been selected.

The Preferred Route Drawings are available for your information on the project website here.

Over the coming weeks, a series of Public Information Events for communities along the route of the Greenway will be held. Landowners, local residents, and the general public are invited to attend to receive a presentation from the design team and to speak with them and make arrangements for follow up appointments on site as required.

These Public Information events will be held in:

1.  Tuesday August 11th  Tyholland Community Sports Complex 6-9pm
2. Wednesday August 19th
Middletown Markethouse Main St   6-9pm
3. Thursday August 27th
Smithborough Community Hall 6-9pm

These events will be run strictly in accordance with current government guidelines on the Covid 19 virus, and as such, the numbers attending each event must be controlled to ensure social distancing protocol is observed.

There will be three sessions at each venue, 6pm, 7pm and 8pm, and attendance is strictly by appointment only. Spaces at each session will be limited to 12 persons only. To book your place at one of these Public Information events, simply click on the appropriate link and book the date and time slot that is most convenient for you.

Alternatively,  feel free to give the project team a call on 086 4115313 and they will book you in. Unfortunately, only those who have pre-booked can be admitted.

Book a seat at Tyholland Event

Book a seat at Middletown Event

Book a seat at Smithborough Event

This project is supported by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB)

PREFERRED ROUTE MAPS Now Available to view – August 2020

Following a thorough route assessment process, we are pleased to announce that the Preferred Route Corridor for the Ulster Canal Greenway Phase 2, Smithborough to Middletown, has now been selected.

Click on the links below to view drawings of the route.  To keep the file size manageable, we have split the drawings into separate pdf files, each one showing the equivalent of one A3 page-sized section of the route.  

The route is arranged from west to east, ie from the Smithboro end to the Middletown end, and each file is named by the townlands that it covers. 

To view a file, just click the file name.  To save it to your device, click on the ‘download’ option.