Landowner left waiting as council halts Ronán’s Way redevelopment in Glens of Antrim

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has called for a reappraisal of the recently halted redevelopment project at Ronán’s Way in Cushendun.

Independent councillor Margaret Anne McKillop said the landowner at Ronán’s Way had been awaiting a lease agreement with the council, which would have allowed the £225,100 redevelopment scheme to move forward.

Last month’s Leisure and Development Committee meeting approved PEACEPLUS funding for two elements of the Layde Path, Cottage Wood and Ronán’s Way project.

This included £506,388 for Layde Path, covering vegetation clearance, path repairs and timber bridge replacements, alongside £678,725 for improvements at Cottage Wood, including the removal of invasive species, road resurfacing and new signage.

However, plans for £225,100 of funding earmarked for Ronán’s Way improvements were withdrawn after it emerged the land is not in council ownership.

Officers warned this could delay the project and place it at risk of failing to meet the funding deadline.

Independent councillor Margaret Anne McKillop

Speaking at April’s full council meeting, Councillor McKillop said that while she welcomed the funding for Layde Path and Cottage Wood, she was “equally disappointed about Ronán’s Way.”

She called for the project to be brought back before the council’s project board for an “in-depth discussion.”

“I don’t know what has happened here, but there was to be a lease,” she said.

“[The landowner] and council were working through a lease that was to go to our Land and Property Subcommittee, which in turn would have meant that this was a council project, and for some reason the lease did not come to Land and Property.

“Out of respect for the landowner, this needs to be discussed at the project board and a reason given as to where this lease is, because this man thought this lease had been drawn up all along.”