Mourne Coastal Walking Path

The Challenge

To assess the feasibility of developing the Mourne and Strangford Lough Coastal Path, an 81 mile coastal walking route from Greencastle (near Kilkeel) to Portavogie in Co Down in order to enhance the tourism offering in the area.  In addition the challenge was to ensure the proposed route would complement the ‘sister’ signature tourism product, the Mourne Coastal Driving Route.

The Role

We were commissioned by Newry, Mourne & Down District Council in partnership with Ards & North Down Borough Council and Mourne Heritage Trust to:

• Carry out a detailed audit on the ground of the proposed route
• Appoint a consultant engineer company to carry out structural engineering reports where required
• Calculate the cost for infrastructure, trail build and trail upgrade
• Identify all approvals, access rights and land ownership issues
• Examine other examples and models of best practice in the UK and Ireland
• Identify any tourism and business development opportunities that would enhance the visitor experience along the route through unique attractions and ‘experiences’

The Results

We produced a comprehensive feasibility report in August 2015 which included:

• technical assessment of the proposed route
• provision of capital costs for route development and other costs
• identification of primary barriers to development
• recommendation of a phased development approach
• research into the potential and demand of the walking product in the project area
• evaluation of the tourism potential for the project
• recommendation of experiential tourism development along the trail

The findings and recommendations have been presented to Newry, Mourne and Down Council and the project is under consideration.