Call to action by January 26th 5.00 pm. We want to explain in a bit more depth why this is so important and ask you this final time to make a submission, we have nearly 3,000 signatures on this petition, imagine if a thousand of us send in a short submission? Why is this so important? In 2010 the Regional Planning Guidelines (RPGs) were established, these legally binding guidelines had to be built into every county plan. The RPG’s were heavily influenced by the lobby group trying to re-open the closed railway from Athenry to Collooney, and meant that every county plan had to fully support the idea of the Western Rail Corridor re-opening, so the idea of a greenway on the route has been constantly stopped, in particular by Mayo County Council and Galway County Council; thankfully Sligo county council saw sense last year and now supports the greenway. Whilst the railway may have seemed like a great idea in 2010, we all know the realities of life and Ireland is very different in 2018 than 2010. Money is tight, and projects have to really stand up on merit. The reality is the Western Rail Corridor is no longer on the agenda of national government and more to the point, European Transport Policy, approved in 2013 clearly omitted the Western Rail Corridor as a key project for transport in Ireland. Like it or not, these are the facts of the matter. But we still have this great resource on our doorstep lying idle. The North West Regional Assembly, a body made up of councillors from the region issued a document before Christmas asking for public submissions on the new Regional Spatial Economic Strategies for the next ten years. This is very important for our campaign as the new Regional Spatial Economic Strategies will replace the RPGs. The document can be downloaded here: http://www.nwra.ie/rses/ email submissions to rses@nwra.ie In the document alternative uses for the closed railway from Athenry to Collooney are mentioned, this was a step in the right direction. We need this idea to be reinforced in submissions from the public with as many submissions as possible, by email and it costs nothing rses@nwra.ie. So, those of you motivated by this campaign, by Friday 5.00 pm please send an email stating that the new Regional Spatial Economic Strategies should support the idea of a greenway on the closed railway from Athenry to Collooney until such time as a railway might be possible. If you want to expand on your submission in your own words please do so. But please do make a submission even if it is only a one liner. Thanks in advance and apologies for three emails on the same subject in the week. It’s called the Army method of training: “Tell em what you are going to tell, tell em, and then tell em again!” Thanks for your patience. Brendan Regional Spatial Economic Strategies submissions before 5.00 pm on January 26 please! email submissions to rses@nwra.ie