Castlerea councillor Paschal Fitzmaurice has proposed the development of an "urban forest" with integrated walkways on council-owned land on the outskirts of the town.

The Fianna Fáil councillor believes that the land is not suitable for housing development, and would be better served as an amenity for the local community.

Fitzmaurice said: "The amenity should contribute towards clean air in your urban area, as things like cars idling is a huge contributor to poor quality air.

"There are very few forests that are planted nowadays from a social point of view and an environmental point of view, they're really for commercial purposes.

"Sometimes the farming community and urban dwellers are anti-forestry for two reasons - they're very close to their houses and the trees can knock down a lot of power lines."

Councillor Fitzmaurice feels that these issues can be avoided by tailoring the tree selection to suit the surrounding area.

The proposed site is located at the rear of the Castlerea Enterprise Hub, and has been put forward to Roscommon County Council.

The councillor also pointed out that there was a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) ‘NeighbourWood’ scheme, which could allow for this project to be developed.

Separately, Roscommon County Council, in partnership with Leitrim County Council is currently in the early stages of developing the Lough Key Greenway Project.

The project is funded through Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), and aims to connect people and places by providing a greenway linking Lough Key and Carrick-on--Shannon, with potential connection to Boyle.

Roscommon County Council said: "It is envisaged that the Lough Key Greenway will facilitate sustainable economic development within Boyle, Carrick-on-Shannon and the surrounding communities through improved connectivity."

As part of Public Consultation No. 2 and in accordance with the Code of Best Practice National and Regional Greenways, members of the public and interested parties are invited to participate in the public consultation phase.

The purpose of the second public consultation is to present Route Corridor Options and hear feedback.

Public Consultation was launched on June 24 at Lough Key Forest & Activity Park, and is ongoing until 4:00p.m Friday, July 18.

A representative from Philip Farrelly & Co which has been appointed as the independent agronomist for the project also attended the event to engage with farmers/landowners.

Senior executive engineer with Roscommon County Council, Niall Morrissey said: “The project team would like to thank the public, interested parties and in particular the farming community for their participation to date.”