Kerry County Council have unanimously voted to approve the Part VIII planning application for the second phase of the Tralee to Fenit Greenway at their monthly meeting this morning.
This decision means that work can now proceed on extending the current path from Rock street to the rail and bus station at Edward Street.
I was just passing the playground in Fenit and noticed a lot of bikes, this is what happens when we get in a sunny April day ! Of course the playground is located on the platform of the former Fenit railway station and is ideally positioned at the end of the planned Greenway. Maybe this time next year the children of the area will be able to walk or cycle in safety along the old railway to the playground rather than the dangerous road through the village which even in 2013 doesn’t have a continuous footpath !
The Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) which is currently under development is a driving route along the Atlantic coast from Donegal to Cork. The Wild Atlantic Way route would run along the path of the Tralee-Fenit Greenway and would provide an activity for tourists traveling the WAW.
This is an opportune time for its development as it would allow its inclusion by Failte Ireland and Discover Ireland in WAW promotional materials over the next several years. In addition to this , several communities along the WAW in Kerry are currently in collaboration to develop the St Brendan Story as a tourism experience, with which the Fenit area is inexplicably linked . The proposed greenway provides added value to this initiative as it will add to a proposed cluster of tourism activities, the development of which will make the region more attractive as a tourism destination.
Here are two videos which recently surfaced on youtube that might bring back memories of the Tralee to Fenit railway for those of you of a certain vintage !
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp52plPeMm0&w=420&h=315]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4upI7-reYJE&w=420&h=315]
Check out these old photos of the Tralee/Fenit branch line, they might bring back some memories for some of ye.
It is amazing to think that a train could still have traveled on the line as little as 20 years ago.
