Government Grant Support for Tralee Nature Walk


River Lee at Castlemorris

The Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, Mr. Seamus Brennan, T.D., has announced grant support totalling €416,640 (75% of total cost) for Tralee Town Council’s proposed 1.7 km Nature Walk along the River Lee from the Ballyard Road to Ballymullen. The Walk, which will eventually extend eastwards along the River Lee to Ballyseedy Wood, is a key element of the Lee Valley Master Plan (2000).

The announcement has been welcomed by the Mayor of Tralee, Cllr. Miriam McGillicuddy who said that the walk has been a long term objective of the Town Council who last year approved Part 8 Planning for the project.

The grant comes from the Tourism Infrastructure Fund of the new National Development Plan administered by Fáilte Ireland. The Town Council is providing the balance of funding (€138,880) from its amenity levy fund.

The walk is being implemented in stages and is due for completion by May 2008. It is 3 metres wide and has a future cycle lane provision. 0.5km of the walkway is being constructed by Dunloe Ewart and other private developers as part of the ‘planning gain’ associated with the Fels Point developments. The new tourism funding will facilitate the completion of the walk in either direction and the construction of a raised boardwalk over the River Lee floodplain at Castlemorris. The walk will also link up with the Council’s new riverside parks at Castlemorris and Ballyard. The next phase will involve the extension of the walk eastwards from Ballymullen to Ballyseedy Wood.