Wicklow county councillors are to vote next month on a controversial proposal to vary the county development plan by including 17 traditional walking routes.
The proposal to list 15 "access routes" on State and semi-State lands, as well as the Wicklow Way and St Kevin's Way, in a revised plan comes from a cross-party committee set up last year to defuse controversy between walkers and farmers over access.
However, the committee's decision not to recommend that rights of way be included in the plan has angered environmental and walkers' groups, who have accused the council of kow-towing to the interests of landowners. Earlier this year, 33 access routes used by thousands of walkers were deleted from the draft plan, following a concerted campaign of opposition from the Irish Farmers' Association.
In 2004, councillors voted to remove 13 rights of way from the plan. Legally, a right of way exists "as of right" and permission to use it is not required from the landowner. It is proposed that access routes, which are not legally defined, would operate subject to the permission of the landowner.
The committee, chaired by Fianna Fáil councillor Pat Vance, has recommended that 15 access routes, all on land owned by the Wicklow Mountains National Park, Coillte or ESB, be restored to the plan. The Wicklow Way and St Kevin's Way should also be included as "existing, permissive, long-distance waymarked walking routes".
In an interim report, the committee calls for the promotion of "agreed access on privately owned land in the county on the basis of consultation and consensus". In the promotion of new trails, it says "the voluntary participation of landowners is essential". The report suggests that licences be drawn up for each route. Landowners would retain the right to close or alter an agreed access route "within reason".
According to the report, several hundred public rights of way "likely" exist in the county but listing them would require "significant investigation and resources". It says the council should seek to preserve existing rights of way by curtailing "inappropriate development which may infringe upon these".
The validity of three rights of way - Bray to Greystones cliff walk, Bray Head and the Kilcoole mass track - were "uncontested", and the council should investigate the implications for maintenance and insurance should they be listed for preservation in the plan.
The Enniskerry Walking Association accused the committee of putting "the cart before the horse" by developing a walking strategy without taking into account the interests of the public. "No country in Europe does less to protect access for walkers than Ireland - and no county in Ireland is doing less than Wicklow," they said.
"The attitude of the council can be summed up succinctly: wherever there is the slightest prospect of a landowner demurring over a right of way, do not include it in the county plan. This amounts to no more than the complete abandonment of an important part of our physical heritage - a failure which future generations will rue."
The group, involved in long-running litigation over a disputed right of way in the Glencree Valley, claims dozens of such routes are in danger of extinction because of the council's "abject failure" to protect them.
In another submission, Keep Ireland Open says the proposed variation of the plan will cause confusion because many of the access routes mentioned are actually rights of way.
"However well-meaning the proposal is, it will not add a kilometre of walkways nor will it confer any additional rights to users."
