Controversial plans to route the Tullamore bypass through an area designated for conservation have been dropped by Offaly County Council. This week the local authority announced a change of route for the planned £35 million roadway.
The new route, described by the council as a compromise, means the motorway will not now cut through part of Charleville estate, a woodland designated as a candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Instead, one-third of the original bypass route, which was opposed both by the local community and environmental activists, has been altered.
County engineer Mr William Wall acknowledged that Charleville wood was "a major environmental concern", but said the council "could not walk away from its plans until it had an alternative".
The plan is for the 15 km bypass to travel in a south-west direction from Durrow to Mucklagh, with changes to the section close to Mucklagh. "The section from Ballard wood to Mucklagh has been altered so that it does not go through the wood but instead travels along the existing road between Ballard and Mucklagh bridge and from there it bypasses Mucklagh on the north-west side. Originally it was bypassing it on the south-east side," Mr Wall said.
"We had discussions with Duchas (the heritage service) and we agreed on the point of changing the route and worked out a compromise with regard to the alternative."
Because the route has been changed the council has again to engage in a process of consultation with the public. The new plans will be on display in the Tullamore Court Hotel next Monday and Tuesday and the public can call in, ask questions or voice their feelings on the changes. There will also be a short period for people to make submissions.
Mr Wall said an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was not required for the project but it had been suggested by Duchas that one be compiled. "Because of this and the interest in the woods as a candidate SAC we will be proceeding with an EIS but we will first have to get the permission of An Bord Pleanala to do that," he said.
The matter will come back before next month's council meeting and Mr Wall hopes councillors will then vote to approve the amended route. "I hope a decision will be made at the next council meeting because the town definitely needs a bypass," he said.
If there are no further objections to the route, building could start early in 2003 and the bypass could be complete by 2005.
A spokesman for the Ballard Street/ O'Haras Residents' Association, the local group that had opposed the routing of the bypass through Charleville woods, said he could not comment on the changing of the route until after the plans were viewed and considered at next week's open consultation forum.
Charleville wood was designated as a candidate SAC due to the presence of the vertigo moulinsiana, a rare species of snail, and its old oak woodland habitat.