Sligo County Council is facing a High Court challenge over its proposal to erect a fence at Culleenamore beach near Strandhill.

Local campaigners, who have written to Minister for the Environment John Gormley asking him to intervene, say the fence would block a public right of way that has existed for generations.

"This is part of a growing pattern where access to public amenities along the seashore and at beauty spots is being privatised," said Peigín Doyle, secretary of the local group opposing the fence.

"There is a real danger that the public who enjoyed these facilities for generations will be pushed out."

Almost 1,000 people have signed a petition opposing the fence including senior trade union figures who signed in a personal capacity.

Among them are Siptu president Jack O'Connor, former Siptu boss Des Geraghty, Ictu vice-president Peter Bunting and journalist Éamon McCann.

Sligo County Council was trying to guarantee public access to the beach when it made an agreement to buy land at Carrowdough, Culleenamore.

In 2005 it paid €35,000 for a hectare of land and part of the agreement was that it would erect a fence to separate this land from about half an acre retained by the vendor.

Campaigners say the issue is not the ownership of the land but the decision to erect a fence blocking what they insist is a public right of way and part of the original road from Ballisodare to Sligo via the coastal village of Strandhill.

They say that this was the main coast road until a new road was built in 1836 and that it is recorded on the ordnance survey 1829 to 1841.

In a statement yesterday Sligo County Council said the evidence supplied by the campaigners was insufficient to establish that a public right of way exists on the land.

Acting director of services Declan Breen said this was an issue to be resolved between the owners and those who claim that a public right of way exists and "ultimately this should be decided by the courts".

He said the council had agreed not to act for a month to enable the group to issue legal proceedings, but construction of the fence will go ahead after local elected representatives are briefed next month.

Residents opposed to the fence say that the council will be breaking the law if it goes ahead with its proposal.

They also maintain that as Culleenamore is part of Ballisodare Bay which is a Special Area of Conservation, the council is required to produce an environmental impact statement before proceeding with any development there. They say the fence would block a route enjoyed for generations by young families going to the "sandy field", a popular bathing spot, and also by people picking cockles and seaweed at Culleenamore.

One local resident Denis Mannion (78) said his father and grandfather used this route when going on to the beach to collect seaweed to spread on their land.

"I brought seaweed through there with an ass and cart, pony and car and later with a car and trailer," he said. "I remember in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s people used this road when they came on to Culleenamore to collect cockles which were sold in local towns like Ballymote and Tubbercurry.

The local group said its legal advice was to the effect "once a highway always a highway". It argued that a local authority had a duty to protect a public right of way which could only be extinguished by a statutory process.

Campaigners say the confinement of pedestrian traffic to a narrow strip of land would denude plant growth and erode the dunes while making access impossible at certain times for parents pushing buggies and for those with mobility problems.

"It would be impossible to get an ambulance down there if the fence was erected," said Ms Doyle.

The group has urged Mr Gormley to appoint an independent person to adjudicate on the issue.