To ask the Minister for Infrastructure for an update on plans for the implementation of a greenways strategy for Northern Ireland.

‘Exercise – Explore – Enjoy: a Strategic Plan for Greenways’ was published by my Department in November 2016. It provides a framework within which Councils and other bodies can develop their own local schemes as part of a greenway network for the entire region. From the very start, it was recognised that delivery of the greenway projects in the strategy would be taken forward, generally speaking, by Councils.

Following the launch of the strategy, under the ‘Small Grants for Greenways’ programme my Department provided grant funding for nineteen greenway feasibility studies and ten detailed designs. Since becoming Minister, I have provided over £6 million of capital grant funding to Councils from my Blue / Green Infrastructure Fund in support of greenway projects related to the greenway network published in the Strategic Plan.

In January 2022, I also announced a programme that would provide support to Councils for the development of greenway projects. I have awarded a grant of £50,000 to Sustrans to carry out an assessment of the current state of greenway development across Northern Ireland and to develop a phased programme of greenway delivery in consultation with Councils.