THE Mayor of Tralee has called on Kerry County Council and TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) to clarify how the county’s Greenways will be maintained “to the highest standards”.

Cllr Mikey Sheehy asked how the Council and TII planned to maintain the county’s Greenways at this week’s monthly meeting of the Council on Monday.

“The recent openings of the Tralee-Fenit and North Kerry Greenways have been greeted by huge excitement throughout the county, both by locals looking forward to using the local amenities and by businesses who are enthusiastic to reap the benefits of these fantastic tourism assets,” he said.

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“It is for that reason that we need to plan now in terms of maintaining these Greenways to the highest standard going forward.”

In reply, Council Management stated that “The Maintenance Plans for the Tralee to Fenit and the Listowel to Limerick County Bounds Greenway are progressing for submission to the TII, the funding authority for Greenways. It is anticipated that TII will make a determination on whether they will fund greenway maintenance by the end of the year. Pending confirmation by the TII that they will fund the maintenance of Greenways, the maintenance costs may need to be considered in the context of our ordinary road maintenance budgets for 2023 as Greenways are classified as public roads under the Roads Act.”

In responding to management’s reply Sheehy added that he hoped that “if afforded the opportunity through the TII’s funding stream that Kerry County Council could employ a full time maintenance team for all of the county’s greenways, including the planned Tralee-Cockleshell Greenway and the South Kerry Greenway.”