THE £1.9m Castle Basin Project, which will provide an extensive riverside walkway, an events area and a new Castle Promenade along the River Erne’s shoreline in Enniskillen is finally underway.
The development, which was first mooted several years ago, marks the first step in initiating the Enniskillen Master Plan to create a fully accessible route for both cyclists and pedestrians to enjoy and stretches from the rear of Enniskillen Castle around the water’s edge and linking in with the existing pedestrian routes for the main retail areas.
A Fermanagh District Council spokesman explained the work that has started along the shoreline.
“The Castle Basin project has commenced on site with the original design consisting of new and improved high quality surfacing around the water’s edge, inclusion of an events space and improvements around accessibility, all remaining within the scope of the project. Disruption will be kept to a minimum during construction, but will also be inevitable on a project of this scale. The areas in which work will be occurring will be screened off with temporary fencing and signage advising alternative routes where necessary.”
He continued: “The improvements to the path will create real health benefits and an attractive feature for tourists to visit as part of the wider economic development of the region.”
The new trail will run from Enniskillen Castle (at Castle Street) right along the River Erne, behind the Lakeland Forum, connecting with the Erneside Shopping Centre bridge area and finally going under Wellington Road bridge on to the Queen Elizabeth Road until the Queen Street Roundabout.
Speaking when the project was first announced last year acting chief executive of Fermanagh District Council Robert Gibson commented: “It is a nice project which will present that area in a nicer way than it is at the moment. For instance, the path there is fairly old and has been repaired over a number of years. It is well used at present, but this will create an attractive walk, with seats, and there will be an ‘events’ area as well.” The events area will be located on the castle side of the small 3G pitch, catering for on-water sports such as canoe polo and wake boarding and, on land, tug-o-war competitions, the start of the annual 10k run and the Fermanagh branch of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association.
Works on the Castle Basin project are due to be completed by May.
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