Some councillors tonight tried to maintain that users of the planned Cabinteely Greenway would be better off pushed out onto the N11 at a massive 7-lane junction with slip turns, but Dn LaoghaireRathdown County Council officials confirmed that there was no planning reason to shorten the planned greenway.But councillors agreed with just three votes in the difference to shorten the route.Sections A and B betweenCornelscourt Village ot Glen Lawn Drive and from there to Cabinteely Park have now been removed from the project.After a heated debate, councillors eventually voted against restoring different sections of the greenway, with the vote split 17/18 in favour to 21 against. When the three different motions were defeated, the shortened project as proposed by officials was supported by 36 councillors, with just 2 voting against the overall project.Section C, including a route through Cabinteely Park and a connection to the N11 via Clonkeen Road, and Section D fromBrennanstown Road to the Cherrywood Green Routes Network, have been given planning permission by councillors. A number of councillors had tried to sway their fellow councillors to reintroduce the full route to ensure a safe route between Cornelscourt and Cherrywood, but this ultimately failed with most Fianna Fil and Fine Gael councillors voting against a more continuous route. Cllr Eva Dowling (Green Party) said: Now we are being asked to abandon vital infrastructure based on heavily skewed data. Of the objections received, 460 were templated postcards, 450 of those were delivered in bulk by a single residence association in a single delivery that one orchestrated campaign accounts for 69% of the no responses.The statutory public consultation, as we all know, is a mechanism to gather qualitative feedback to refine designs, she said. She added: Colleagues, lets not build a fragmented greenway and try to call it a success. I am asking you to vote with me tonight. Lets stand by the compromises already made. Lets prioritise the safety of the families and children we all see navigating these roads, and work together and reinstate sections A and B.Cllr John Hurley (Social Democrats) said that the project had originally included removing car parking on Glen Lawn Drive, but that even after compromises were made, which included retaining the parking, opposition was still strong.He said that those residents did not see this as a greenway for them, and because of this, his motion to restore this section included provision for ducting for future fibre-optic cable to the houses, which he said have poor internet connectivity. Cllr John Kennedy (Fine Gael) said that the provision of broadband should not be dependent on part of an active travel route going ahead. Cllr Lorraine Hall (Fine Gael) said: This is a really positive scheme. Unlike nearly every other active travel scheme, it doesnt affect parking, roads or bus lanes. And the councils own material says that the purpose is to increase road safety, not reduce it. Weve lots of cycling routes running through parks that dont raise safety concerns.Removing sections A and B is not a minor tweak; its a major change that cuts off the opening section of the route, and it weakens the overall scheme, she said. If we want connected routes, this is the wrong direction.Cllr Hall added: My comments arent a criticism of the postcard campaign. Consultation matters, engagement should be encouraged, but the results of these campaigns shouldnt be treated as a veto on the scheme; we have to consider the wider needs of the community.VIDEO: The section before the roundabout, at around 1:42 in the video, has been omitted from the plans as approved. Cllr Martha Fanning (Labour) said: This looks like a safe, accessible, inclusive scheme, and whats so disappointing is that the chief executives report is that it decides to halve it. I looked at the NTA data last week, and theres one bit that is still devastating twice as many men as women cycle. So we havent addressed that. This scheme would, if we could deliver it all, help to address the gender imbalance.Cllr Tom Kivlehan (Green Party) said that people will come to the new western end of the route and reach Glenville Drive, which he said is a rat run where motorists often do 60-70km/h, leaving the route unsafe. Cllr Hurley said that some councillors have argued that the N11 is a parallel route, but an urban greenway is a very different type of environment where, for example, you can take children to learn how to cycle, which he said cannot be done along the N11.He added: Really, any yardage or additional length of this scheme that can continue westwards is of benefit because its getting closer to where the route can bring you to another school quiet, safe infrastructure.Cllr Justin Moylan (Fianna Fil) said: Theres a lot of talk here this evening about a public consultation being compared to a plebiscite. A public consultation was carried out. You [councillors] are capable of reading the managers report. You are capable of reading the results of that.He said that Friends of the Earth put out a template email for the DL Living Streets project that generated thousands of responses, adding: Whats sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Cllr Barry Saul (Fine Gael) said: First of all, Im happy to support the independent, professional advice of our active travel team these two motions in reverse are effectively ignoring the independent advice of our active travel team.And also I think it has been said that this is a safer route because it does connect to the N11, making it safer for everyone, he claimed. So Im happy to go with the chief executives report,He added: I also think, as many councillors have said before, it is absolutely utterly disgraceful for all the people involved in these motions to suggest that theres something underhanded in the way the public consultation has been carried out, or the way a postcard campaign has been carried out. I think its absolutely disgraceful. Cllr Hurley and Cllr Dowling both criticised this interruption of the criticism of the postcard campaign, or how it was interrupted by council officials. Cllr Dowling said she believed that the comments from Cllr Saul are contradictory to the councils code of conduct. Cllr Jim Gildea (FG), chairperson of the meeting, claimed that Cllr Dowling had made the point that the postcard campaign was underhanded; she denied this and said the claim was disgraceful. Cllr Lauren Tuite (Green) said her aunt passed away on Friday at the incredible age of 101. While she never admitted it herself, she was a true green: She never wasted anything, she made amended clothes and curtains, she got to be out in the garden, and she never learnt to drive. Because long before we had safe routes to school, we had safe routes to church and her community, like many around this country, were designed as laneways and shortcuts for people to walk to mass. I believe that the ability to walk in her neighbourhood was the secret to her longevity, said Cllr Tuite.Cllr Tuite continued: She retained her mobility, her independence, her sharp wit for the best part of a century. In the final months of her life, she was still able to watch the world go by We often talk about the importance of infrastructure like this in terms of the benefits for children, but that is to overlook the opportunity here for older residents. The average person will live for a decade after they have last hang up their car keys that should not be the end of us, living full and productive lives.Cllr Peter OBrien (Labour) accused the government parties in the chamber of going against their own national policies on sustainable mobility. He added: Ive still yet to hear a good planning reason why these [sections of the route] have been removed. I havent heard it, and its been a nice number of times. I dont know why this is being removed.He added: Theres a question of funding. Weve been told previously, Im not sure the NTA would fund this.Cllr Oisn OConnor (Green) said that people walking and cycling from Cherrywood or along the route would benefit businesses at the now former western end of the route at Cornelscourt Hill Road. Cllr Carrie Smyth (Labour) said councillors are abandoning people using the route if they remove the sections which have now been removed from the project. People are saying that they can cycle along the N11 I do know if you have been on a bicycle and cycled through a park or a greenway compared to cycling on the N11, it is a huge difference, especially if its young children or women, she said.She added: Its unbelievable the differences cycling in a green area rather than on the N11. On the N11, youve got double-decker buses going by you, and actually, the air can be so strong they can actually blow you to one side. Thats how different it is.Chairman Cllr Gildea asked Cllr Smyth to leave the room after she tried to wrap up her contribution, after he told her to stop.For his own part, Cllr Jim Gildea said: Ive heard a couple of a couple of times here that the revised route no longer connects two places, that is absolutely is not true. With the change at Glen Lawn Drive, now connects the route throught the park to the N11.He claimed that sections A and B of the route brought people to Cornelscourt Village, where cyclists had to compete with motorists. He said that this was abandoning people. He said the route also fails to link to a local school, which one of the proposers later said could be addressed. Cllr Kivlehan interrupted Cllr Gildea and said Time is up, a reference to how the chairperson enforced a time restriction on others, which he was now bending for himself.Cllr Gildea said: Excuse me, Ill ask you to leave the room as well if you dont behave. An official confirmed that there is no planning rationale for shortening the greenway, as recommended in the chief executives Part 8 planning report.