The replanting of the Northwoods area will be the end of a 7 year campaign by Cllr Keith Martin who has been involved in the issue since the council undertook the work in 1999. At the time Cllr Martin took up a petition of over 100 signatures from the Newport Road calling for the area to be replanted which he presented to the council. He was later involved in the efforts of the Pinewoods residents and was a founding member of the Northwoods Neighbouring Committee which under the chairmanship of Michael Murphy worked with the council to produce the successful application for the replanting of the Northwoods. As part of his election campaign in June 2004 the replanting of the Northwoods was a major policy commitment.

Today, Cllr Martin has welcomed the approval of Westport Town Council’s grant under the Neighbourwood Scheme for the replanting of the Northwoods.

Cllr Martin says “this is good news at last for the Northwoods area. We applied for this grant in Spring and expected it to be approved before the summer but there has been a long delay in approving the application and this meant the council could not begin its work in the woods as planned. However I am hopeful that the replanting of the wood can begin before the end of the year under the supervision of Mr Peter Gill, Mayo County Council’s horticulturist. I also expect that the council will begin clearing the undergrowth and working on the pavements within a couple of weeks.”

The Neighbourwood Scheme is designed to compliment initiatives like the Tidy Towns, Local Agenda 21 and the work of your community groups. The scheme aims to improve, replant and access urban woodlands such as the Northwoods

Cllr Martin says one of the most important features of the scheme is the fact that “this scheme recognises the valuable role of communities and neighbouring residents in the works and in this scheme there has been great work down by the Residents Associations of the Pinewoods, Crescent, Kings hill and New Road. The Northwoods Neighbours Committee, which has worked closely with the council during each stage of the application, has done great work under the chairmanship of Michael Murphy.

“I would also like to point out that the delay in undertaking the works was outside the control of the Town Council and though it is very disappointing that we could not get started on the works during the summer as promised we can now look forward to the replanting of the wood later this year. As the scheme expires at the end of the year we have a bit of a race on our hands to complete the project but I am confident that it will be complete on time.

“I would hope that once this project is complete that Westport Town Council can look at doing the same in other woodlands around the town. One of the great benefits of the scheme is that it is applicable to privately owned woodlands in addition to those owned by the council so we could see some exciting similar developments in the future.”