{"id":1338424,"date":"2024-07-01T09:11:28","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T08:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.agriland.ie\/?p=1338424"},"modified":"2024-07-01T09:12:52","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T08:12:52","slug":"half-of-farmers-would-object-to-greenway-on-their-land-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightsail.agriland.ie\/farming-news\/half-of-farmers-would-object-to-greenway-on-their-land-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"Half of farmers would object to greenway on their land – survey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The majority of farmers would object or consider objecting to a greenway crossing their land, according to the findings of a new survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

258 farmers shared their feelings on greenways in an online survey organised by the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results show that around half (128) farmers would definitely object to a greenway on their land, a further 33% (86) said that they could possibly object to such a development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15% of respondents (39) said that they would not object, while five farmers said that there was already a greenway on their land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Of the 254 farmers who responded to a question on their main concern about having a greenway on their land, 44% pointed to a loss of privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

28% said they would be concerned about the inconvenience a greenway project would bring and a further 17% cited the potential financial impact of such a development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5% of the farmers indicated that they would have no concerns, while the remaining 6% outlined other issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

80% of farmers said that they are against the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) by the State to acquire land for greenway projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6% (15) of the 256 farmers who replied to this question were in favour of the use of CPO for greenways, with 14% indicating “maybe”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"greenway<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The survey shows that 128 (51%) of 251 farmers did not see any benefit in having a greenway in their area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

24% (60) said there was a community benefit due to the availability of a local greenway, 19% (48) cited an economic benefit and 6% believed that such a project would support employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government has allocated \u20ac360 million per year for sustainable walking and cycling developments, under which funding for greenways is provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u20ac72 million is being provided to local authorities this year to progress 70 greenway projects across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

117 (46%) of the 255 farmers who responded on this question in the INHFA survey said that the State should spend no more money on greenway projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

27% stated that the government should maintain the budget at its current rate, with 27% seeking a reduction in spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greenway<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the findings of the survey, INHFA vice-president John Joe Fitzgerald challenged the government’s ambition to expand our national greenway routes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that the government must “recognise the level of concern there is in farming communities and reassess their plans”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitzgerald said that the use of CPOs for greenway projects is “a glorified land-grab that should never be used to acquire land for what is a recreational activity”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The INHFA vice-president also claimed that some project routes were “intrusive and inconvenient” for farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This undermines basic property rights and no amount of money can put a value on such an inconvenience, nor can a price be put on the privacy enjoyed by many generations now being lost through the introduction of a greenway,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fitzgerald acknowledged that the initial greenway programmes were successful as they had “buy-in” from the local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he claimed that the current approach when acquiring land for greenways is “light-years from the original concept”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The INHFA vice-president also questioned if State funding could be better used on other infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n\n\n