Andrew Balfour, Local Democracy Reporter
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has axed plans for a cycle path in Armoy due to Department for Infrastructure (DfI) regulations.
Council oficers recommended withdrawing plans for the Active Travel Path in the village at a meeting of the Council’s Leisure and Development Committee on Tuesday, February 20.
The path was part of the Covid Recovery Small Settlements Regeneration Programme (CRSSRP), and plans were accepted by councillors in 2022 alongside several regeneration plans for villages in the area.
The CRSSRP was funded through the Department for Communities (DfC), the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), DfI and the Council.
An extensive upgrade to the Church Road Playpark in Armoy was completed in October last year. The £120,000 upgrade included improvements to existing equipment and the introduction of new accessible play equipment.
According to council officers, the path would “enhance the current path from the village to link to Lime Park, to encourage active travel, and to create a safe cycle route between the two locations”.
Officers added: “Despite strenuous efforts by specialist technical consultants, there is no scheme design achievable that will satisfy current DfI regulations in relation to crossing from the cycle path -across a 60 mph road- into Lime Park.”
Current DfI regulations dictate that a controlled crossing would need to be designed into the scheme if it is to receive DfI approval.
Officers said the project had a delivery deadline of March next year, so completing it in line with DfI’s regulations by that time was not achievable
They recommended that the application was withdrawn, the proposal removed from the CRSSRP, and the £109,000 of funding reallocated to other projects.
The officers stressed that they were not “getting rid of the project altogether”, and plan to retain the application on a capital programme list in the future.
