Clonmel to Thurles Greenway (Lets take Tipp off track)

marvin80

http://www.nationalist.ie/news/home/261828/bulmers-to-build-1-8million-visitor-centre.html

"He said the Rock of Cashel, which pulls in over 300,000 visitors every year, would be leveraged to become a feeder site for Clonmel, as well as creating a combined visitor package that would encourage coach tours and independent travellers alike to stay in Tipperary, rather than simply pass through on their way to somewhere else."

The greenway would surely help with this aim.

marvin80

marvin80 wrote: »

http://www.nationalist.ie/news/home/261828/bulmers-to-build-1-8million-visitor-centre.html

"He said the Rock of Cashel, which pulls in over 300,000 visitors every year, would be leveraged to become a feeder site for Clonmel, as well as creating a combined visitor package that would encourage coach tours and independent travellers alike to stay in Tipperary, rather than simply pass through on their way to somewhere else."

The greenway would surely help with this aim.

Many many hotels and businesses are in full support of this amenity. The Horse and Jockey and the Minella have followed and liked our social media pages. Many other hospitality services and tourist attractions in Fethard, Thurles and Clonmel have offered support for us.

I can understand that 60k or whatever it might cost for a feasibility study eats into a relatively small tourism budget allocated to us on the councils part and due to the risk it runs of being dead before it starts because of objections from land owners you can see why they would be reluctant to part with this kind of money. But then there is a population of 160000 people in Tipperary. 60000/160000 = 38c per Tipperary citizen.

According to the 2011 census and im assuming its not drastically increased or decreased we have a total of 58625 households in the whole county. 60000/58625 is a wee little bit over 1 euro per household that would fund a feasibility study.

Puts it into perspective doesnt it? I mean if the council asked every household in the county to donate 1 euro to conduct a feasibilty study into something like this, im sure the vast majority would happily give it. You wouldnt get a Mars bar for the price of it. This is of course unlikely to happen but it shows how minimal the budgets for such projects are and in such a big county

marvin80

Article on the positive impact of the Greenway in Waterford.

The greenway is a no-brainer and we have an example on our doorstep of how successful it can be for towns and villages along the route.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/spin-off-success-of-the-waterford-greenway-cycle-path-456035.html

marvin80

Impressive numbers:

"Mullingar 2 Athlone Greenway was used over 48,500 times during August-40km of excellent amenity for all #OldRailTrail"

https://twitter.com/westmeathcoco/status/907276438537211904

Del.Monte

Where is this 48.500 figure plucked from? Do people have to clock in when they traverse the route?

marvin80

Del.Monte wrote: »

Where is this 48.500 figure plucked from? Do people have to clock in when they traverse the route?

There's no clock in when you use the route (not when I've used it anyway).

Maybe they have some sort of counter as people pass it.
Similar to the wires you sometimes see across roads that count cars as they drive over them.

Del.Monte

marvin80 wrote: »

There's no clock in when you use the route (not when I've used it anyway).

Maybe they have some sort of counter as people pass it.
Similar to the wires you sometimes see across roads that count cars as they drive over them.

Or perhaps they just counted one busy day and multiplied it by the number of days in the month? Or perhaps it's fiction?

marvin80

Del.Monte wrote: »

Or perhaps they just counted one busy day and multiplied it by the number of days in the month? Or perhaps it's fiction?

Or maybe it was counted on a quiet day and the facility was used even more than that?

Del.Monte

Del.Monte wrote: »

Or perhaps they just counted one busy day and multiplied it by the number of days in the month? Or perhaps it's fiction?

Maybe you should ask them? What is your problem exactly with greenways?

marvin80

Del.Monte wrote: »

Or perhaps they just counted one busy day and multiplied it by the number of days in the month? Or perhaps it's fiction?

I checked for you and they said:

Gate counters are in place at entry & exit points to record usage figures.

PacMan

marvin80 wrote: »

http://www.nationalist.ie/news/home/261828/bulmers-to-build-1-8million-visitor-centre.html

"He said the Rock of Cashel, which pulls in over 300,000 visitors every year, would be leveraged to become a feeder site for Clonmel, as well as creating a combined visitor package that would encourage coach tours and independent travellers alike to stay in Tipperary, rather than simply pass through on their way to somewhere else."

The greenway would surely help with this aim.

The greenway is definitely a plus for the local area.
However, expecting the (overfed) tourists from a coach tour to divert from the Rock of Cashel to this excellent facility is way off the mark

Del.Monte

Reopening the Goold's Cross/Cashel branchline as a Railway or Greenway would be a more realistic proposal than Thurles/Clonmel. While the route also runs through ploughed up fields it's short (4+ miles) and goes to somewhere interesting. Of course this would entail CIE reopening Goold's Cross on the mainline.

The Woodcock

Just read this thread with interest. While it is a great concept, projects like this are hugely challenging and time consuming. I know several people who were involved in the development of the Waterford Greenway. The first public meeting to get the project off the ground took place 14 years ago, so that will give you an idea of the length of time it takes to get a project of this nature from concept stage to completion. And the cost of the project went way over the original budget by a factor of millions.

The Tholsel project in Fethard is another one I am familiar with. The local business group first started discussing this idea in early 2011 and the building was only opened a few months ago. And that was a project that involved just one piece of ground.

Anyone promoting this project would need to have a lot of groundwork done before even starting a feasibility study. For a project like this landowner consent would be a big consideration. Even establishing who holds the legal title to the entire length of the railway would be a challenge. The old rail route goes north from Fethard to Moyglass and Laffansbridge, right through the heart of Coolmore/Ballydoyle. I would imagine that they would not be well disposed to a cycling route through their lands. Even some landowners who give permission are likely to try and screw the project for money or accommodation works.

Getting the project completed is only half the battle. Ongoing management and maintenance of the route has to be considered as they are finding down in Waterford. While there are undoubted economic benefits, someone will have to bear the expense of maintaining the route.

I am not trying to be negative or knock the idea but I do think it is important to be aware of what lies ahead when considering this kind of project.

The Woodcock

The Woodcock wrote: »

Just read this thread with interest. While it is a great concept, projects like this are hugely challenging and time consuming. I know several people who were involved in the development of the Waterford Greenway. The first public meeting to get the project off the ground took place 14 years ago, so that will give you an idea of the length of time it takes to get a project of this nature from concept stage to completion. And the cost of the project went way over the original budget by a factor of millions.

The Tholsel project in Fethard is another one I am familiar with. The local business group first started discussing this idea in early 2011 and the building was only opened a few months ago. And that was a project that involved just one piece of ground.

Anyone promoting this project would need to have a lot of groundwork done before even starting a feasibility study. For a project like this landowner consent would be a big consideration. Even establishing who holds the legal title to the entire length of the railway would be a challenge. The old rail route goes north from Fethard to Moyglass and Laffansbridge, right through the heart of Coolmore/Ballydoyle. I would imagine that they would not be well disposed to a cycling route through their lands. Even some landowners who give permission are likely to try and screw the project for money or accommodation works.

Getting the project completed is only half the battle. Ongoing management and maintenance of the route has to be considered as they are finding down in Waterford. While there are undoubted economic benefits, someone will have to bear the expense of maintaining the route.

I am not trying to be negative or knock the idea but I do think it is important to be aware of what lies ahead when considering this kind of project.

We're under no illusions whatsoever that this is a marathon and not a sprint and i personally am in it for the long haul. I along with my colleagues in the campaign group have done alot of work to date and spoke to alot of people. It might be the best time to campaign for an amenity like this and at the very least perhaps establish the possibilities of what can be achieved. Many greenways around Ireland are planned and in construction at this time.

It doesnt have to religiously follow the old route, if there is an alternative option then it's important that it is explored.

We are well aware that it has to be maintained, but its worth maintaining. You are building an infrastructure that attracts tourism not too unlike having to maintain the Rock of Cashel.

tiegan

Actually the Fethard to Moyglass and Laffansbridge section surprisingly does not go through Coolmore or Ballydoyle. There is one house that is owned by Coolmore that is the old station house at Farnaleen. I stand to be corrected on this, but have been living in Fethard for the last thirty years.
It might take twenty years to get the project off the ground, but what a legacy to leave to the next generation, and will provide more business to the area in years to come. I am all for it.

marvin80

Great to see so much funding going towards various rural trials and cycleways around the country.
Plenty of funding available - strange how Tipp CoCo are not interested in investigating the possibility of the Clonmel to Thurles Greenway.
It would complement their tourism plans for the likes of Clonmel as well (Bulmers museum, Westgate interpretative centre)

http://drcd.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/Capture-1.png

http://drcd.gov.ie/minister-ring-announces-e2-2-million-funding-for-32-rural-trails-cycleways-and-other-recreational-amenities/

marvin80

marvin80 wrote: »

Great to see so much funding going towards various rural trials and cycleways around the country.
Plenty of funding available - strange how Tipp CoCo are not interested in investigating the possibility of the Clonmel to Thurles Greenway.
It would complement their tourism plans for the likes of Clonmel as well (Bulmers museum, Westgate interpretative centre)

http://drcd.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/Capture-1.png

http://drcd.gov.ie/minister-ring-announces-e2-2-million-funding-for-32-rural-trails-cycleways-and-other-recreational-amenities/

Alot of the land is privatised now unfortunately and the council are unwilling to explore it further with landowners.

I will commend the council on a number of things though. A couple of us on the campaign group have spoken to the council management and they are very much behind examining the possibility of using the bord na mona site which is 17 mile long. And to Bord na Monas credit also they seem open to the prospect of leaving a legacy when they depart. Its a case of formalising our group now and getting one or two people to commit for the long haul.

marvin80

Good to hear that about the CoCo and Bord na Mona.

Where is the Bord na Mona site - near the Horse and Jockey?

marvin80

marvin80 wrote: »

Good to hear that about the CoCo and Bord na Mona.

Where is the Bord na Mona site - near the Horse and Jockey?

if you turn left at Ballynonty and head for Thurles the factory is about a mile down that road but that is in the middle of thousands of acres of land stretching from laffansbridge right up almost touching Moyne and running parallel with the old N8 up to Mary Willies.

marvin80

Good news, well done to everyone involved:

https://www.tipperarystar.ie/news/news/335811/breaking-thurles-clonmel-greenway-gets-support.html

Public meeting to be held in Thurles. https://www.facebook.com/events/471847099978794/

Kylie Fan

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Public meeting to be held in Thurles. https://www.facebook.com/events/471847099978794/

Any update on progress on this? Has there been any activity in recent years?

Kylie Fan

Kylie Fan wrote: »

Any update on progress on this? Has there been any activity in recent years?

I know that local councillors had been working behind the scenes to get this up and running, but Covid has put a stop to this. It would be great if all disused railway lines could be opened up for walking. The current green and blueways are overrun with cyclists!

Del.Monte

Deleted User wrote: »

I know that local councillors had been working behind the scenes to get this up and running, but Covid has put a stop to this. It would be great if all disused railway lines could be opened up for walking. The current green and blueways are overrun with cyclists!

What, so open up more green and blueways for the same thing to happen?


What about developing some long distance walking routes - not available to cyclists? The proposed Greystones/Wicklow coastal route would be ideal as it is entirely unsuitable for the proposed conversion to a greenway.

MaSz

Del.Monte wrote: »

What, so open up more green and blueways for the same thing to happen?


What about developing some long distance walking routes - not available to cyclists? The proposed Greystones/Wicklow coastal route would be ideal as it is entirely unsuitable for the proposed conversion to a greenway.

Maybe Greenways/Blueways are overrun with walkers??

Its for everyone!

Im cycling and walking blueway and so far i didnt had any issues with cyclist or walkers.

I'm living in Clonmel and i cant get my head around how little the area is developed. So much potential and all wasted.

Mountain biking Centre in Careys Castle area.

Greenway from Clonmel to Thurles

Mountain biking in Kilsheelan woods.

Walking routes to Holly Year Cross/Ballymacarbry/ Nire Valey

Walking Trails to the lakes in the Comeraghs/ Mahon Falls

As one local told me about changes in Ireland.. 'Glaciers are moving faster'

Kylie Fan

Kylie Fan wrote: »

Any update on progress on this? Has there been any activity in recent years?

Tender awarded to a firm to do the feasibility study, just waiting on funding to be confirmed.

MaSz

Hi I was wondering is there any update on this topic.