A proposed walking trail connecting the villages of Murrintown and Piercestown has been described by one resident as “the biggest thing to happen in the parish, ever”.

The 5km route, which will have trail heads at Murrintown Community Centre and Londis in Piercestown, is due to be submitted for planning permission in approximately two weeks. Should it be approved, €500,000 in funding would be sought via the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) with a view to commencing the works in Summer 2027.

However, before the project enters the planning stage, the members of the Rosslare Municipal District (RMD) presented an overview of the trail to local residents at Piercestown Community Centre.

Cognisant of residents’ concerns, Councillors Lisa McDonald and Frank Staples, along with director of services Lynda Lacey and district engineer Michael Brazzill, fielded questions from those who will be directly impacted by the trail if and when it’s developed.

Some of those concerns have already been addressed with a section of the trail route being moved by eight metres to ensure it does not impinge on the privacy of homeowners.

And, as Ms Lacey explained, the trail would be clearly delineated so as not to interfere with Teagasc’s lands at Johnstown Castle.

“It’s important we don’t interfere with any of Teagasc’s operations, so the trail will form a boundary on the Teagasc land,” she said. “It will connect the two villages and provide people with a safe route away from traffic to enjoy the meadows and woodlands of Johnstown.”

Should the trail receive planning permission it will require two separate tranches of €500,000 funding to complete.

“That’s the maximum you can receive under ORIS, so this project will have to be split into two phases,” said Ms Lacey. “The first phase will be the construction of the trail itself, the second will be the creation of additional nature signage, information boards, low-level lighting, and CCTV.”

In terms of the finer details, Mr Brazzill said the trail will have natural hedgerows planted alongside its fences, will be three metres wide, will travel through forested sections, cross a river, and be a “more controlled route” in comparison to trails like that on Forth Mountain.

That lighting will be “triggered by movement” and come on as people walk and cycle along the route.

When questions were put to the floor however, concerns were immediately raised about anti-social behaviour along the route, particularly after dark.

“We have over 30 trails in the county and we don’t experience anti-social behaviour on any of them,” replied Ms Lacey. “If people are walking the route on a regular basis it tends to prevent anti-social behaviour”

“There’s already anti-social behaviour on that route,” came the response.

“Hopefully the CCTV will put an end to that,” said Ms Lacey. “Something so positive for the community shouldn’t be held back over fears of anti-social behaviour.”

“It has to be acknowledged though that the majority of people in this room are not going to be personally impacted by anti-social behaviour,” replied the resident.

“We appreciate your concerns and will do everything in our power to alleviate them,” said Ms Lacey.

Further issues regarding the potential loss of biodiversity were raised by some of those in attendance.

“You’re putting in a natural trail and digging up nature to do so, removing nature to make a nature trail,” one person remarked.

“We’re actually opening it up to let people enjoy what’s there,” responded Ms Lacey. “Wexford County Council is responsible for biodiversity as well, it’s not in our interests to take anything away, we want to enhance the area.

“If the application has done everything right from an ecological point of view it will receive planning permission, if there’s something wrong, it won’t.”

In response to the suggestion that there are already “lots of walks in Johnstown Castle” and there was no need for an additional trail, Ms Lacey said this route will “link the two villages, allow the children to cycle to the GAA pitch, and will be a positive for the parish”.

Those comments led to applause from an audience which appeared predominately in favour of the trail.

“I empathise with those who have concerns but those of us who walk that road know how lethal it is,” said one audience member. “The hedges aren’t cut back, there’s barely room for two cars, and when you’re walking round that bend you’re praying there are no cars coming against you.

“This is one of the biggest things to ever happen for the Piercestown Murrintown parish.”

As a member of that parish, Cathaoirleach of WCC, Councillor Lisa McDonald has been instrumental in bringing this project to the planning stage. And she recounted how the idea for the trail had been “born during Covid”.

“We were out walking our 2.5km and many of us began to get ‘goldfish syndrome’, and I thought why can’t we have a nice trail in our area like they do elsewhere in the county?” she said.

“I approached Rory O’Mahony (environmental engineer with WCC) and he has travelled this journey with me up to this point and been pivotal in the development of this project.”

Noting how she used to “cycle everywhere” as a child and how younger generations have gradually been shifted to the cars of their parents, Cllr McDonald said the new trail will “benefit children old enough to cycle down to the club without having to be driven down”.

“We won’t have to bring them to the Omniplex to learn how to cycle, they can do so locally,” she added.

And while sourcing funding will require an application to central government, Cllr McDonald was confident of ministerial support when the time comes.

“I was speaking to Rural and Community Development Minister Dara Calleary about this and he said it was a ‘textbook project’ as it links two communities which already work together and already support each other’s businesses.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.