> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.dublininquirer.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Some locals push for beach bypass at Sutton — but it would cut through a special preservation area - URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/some-locals-push-for-beach-bypass-at-sutton-but-it-would-cut-through-a-special-preservation-area/ - Published: 2026-09-22T23:42:37.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-22T23:42:44.000Z - Author: Michael Lanigan - Tags: Transport, climate change, environment, Fingal Yvonne Kelly strolled up the Station Road, past the Sutton Dart station, to look out on Baldoyle Bay. With a newspaper clasped in one hand, she stopped at the small patch of grass at the end of the long cement promenade that travels from Sutton, up along the bay, before connecting to the Baldoyle-Portmarnock walkway. It was windy. Kelly gestured out at Ireland’s Eye, and pointed at the Sutton Golf Club. “I just want you to look at this glorious vista,” she said. “You can see Lambay and everything.” Kelly and a group of local campaigners known as Bóthar na Mara had, since 9 September, [been advertising across](https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active%5Fstatus=all&ad%5Ftype=all&country=IE&is%5Ftargeted%5Fcountry=false&media%5Ftype=all&search%5Ftype=page&sort%5Fdata[mode]=total%5Fimpressions&sort%5Fdata[direction]=desc&view%5Fall%5Fpage%5Fid=1228170903723188) Meta platforms their proposal for a greenway and vehicular bypass between Sutton and Baldoyle. It would be a bypass to the Station Road, also known as Bóthar na Mara (Sea Road) which would be built on the edge of the beach beside the flood defence walls outside the train station, and consist of a road, cycleway and footpath, according to a petition that was launched by the campaign on 27 July. This hypothetical bypass, which is envisaged to be 15 metres wide and 450 metres long, is proposed as an effort to resolve the constant traffic gridlock at Sutton Cross and Station Road, according to the petition, which has collected 115 signatures to date. Except, the road as proposed would run through a Special Preservation Area, one that hosts brent geese, ringed plovers, and bar-tailed godwits during winter, according to a [2012 report by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28671850-004016-baldoyle-bay-spa-supporting-doc-v1-1/?q=curlew&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p7) While human activity tends to decrease in the winter period, [the report observes](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28671850-004016-baldoyle-bay-spa-supporting-doc-v1-1/?q=displacement&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p41) that any activity which causes disturbance can lead to the displacement of waterbirds. As Kelly embarked on her trek along the proposed new beach road, there were plenty of birds scrutinising their surrounds – a few herring gulls, hooded crows and curlews, as well as some black and white sanderlings which scuttled about on the wet sand. “None of this will be touched,” Kelly said. “That’s the most important thing to say.” Adding any infrastructure into a special protection area would require in-depth assessments to ensure that any waterbirds would not face disturbances, even in the short term. ## **Bottleneck** Sutton is an isthmus, a thin strip of land which connects Howth to the mainland, and has very limited access out to Howth Head via the Howth Road, Kelly said. “What’s happening is in Howth, Sutton and everywhere, they have to go through this bottleneck.” The Bóthar na Mara relief road would avoid that bottleneck, she said. Currently, Fingal County Council is developing a pedestrian and cycle scheme between Sutton and Malahide, which is expected to be brought before An Coimisiún Pleanála sometime this year, according to [the council website](https://www.fingal.ie/suttontomalahide?ref=dublininquirer.com). The campaign group’s own idea for a greenway would continue exactly where the council’s route concludes, she said. “The Sutton to Malahide greenway starts right here.” She points at a small grassy verge that looks out onto the beach. “That means there’s no greenway going through Sutton Cross, because there’s no room for it, being the isthmus,” she said. “It would be as much of the cost of an expensive house. Less than a million to build this.” It would also make the beach more accessible to wheelchair users, she said as she approached the steps that lead down from the flood defence walls. “A lot of people who deserve to see the beach have never ever seen the beach. So near. The Burrow Beach is just there. Yet so far,” she said. ## **A live question** As Kelly was about to climb down onto the beach, a woman approached her to ask if she was part of the group organising the campaign that had appeared in a local newspaper. She and her neighbours hadn’t been contacted about it, the woman said. “It’s like a fait d’accompli. It’s in the papers.” The two debated the idea. The woman told Kelly that the birds needed to be protected. Kelly attempted to invite the woman to attend a walk of the potential route, which she was organising on Saturday. The woman asked who this campaign was being organised by. It was Kelly, Kelly said. “And lots of other people.” After about 10 minutes, the two went their separate ways. Kelly descended the stairs. She was quiet for a moment while a curlew loudly sang about 20 metres away. The campaign has only been going properly for three weeks, Kelly said. “It’s time for something new.” Her father was a builder, she said. “When Sutton was developing, people weren’t afraid to put out ideas, and the best ideas would work, and that’s all we’re doing.” There were supporters from Baldoyle and Sutton, she said. “There are many, many people supporting this.” There were a lot of hot feelings about it, she said. “Who would want to destroy the lovely sandy beach? We’re not destroying anything, because the tide never comes in there. They have loads of space, the birds, all the way down there.” ## **A closer look** The next step is getting the council to carry out a feasibility study for the idea, Kelly said as she walked the proposed route. “We have written to the National Transport Authority, obviously Fingal County Council.” In order to proceed with any idea, a detailed assessment of the project would need to be carried out to demonstrate that there would be no adverse effects on the integrity of the special conservation area, [according to the Department of the Environment's 2009 Appropriate Assessment of Plans and Projects in Ireland](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28672048-npws-2009-aa-guidance/?q=adverse&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p5), which offers planning authorities a guide to evaluate the ecological impact of developments under the [EU Habitats Directive](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28672047-pdf/?q=natura&mode=document&ref=dublininquirer.com#document/p89). The Bóthar na Mara group has also sought assistance from local councillors, Kelly said. Fianna Fáil Councillor Cathal Haughey said on Friday that yes, he was contacted by the group and submitted a question on the idea to the upcoming Howth-Malahide Area Committee on 7 October. A spokesperson for the council hasn't responded to a query sent on Monday, asking if they plan to investigate the feasibility of the proposal. One councillor who went along on the walk of the proposed bypass and greenway was David Healy of the Green Party. He pointed out that it is a Special Protection Area for birds, he said. “You can’t be doing anything that would disturb, or increase the disturbance of birds.” But, while a road on the beach is not compatible, the campaign has highlighted one issue, he said. People walk along the route that Kelly and the campaign had identified during low tide as a way to avoid waiting at the level crossing nearby, Healy said. “So there is a way of having a net reduction in disturbance by means of probably a cantilever boardwalk setup.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/09/Baldoyle-Bay-possible-promenade-source-Michael-Lanigan-1.jpg) Baldoyle Bay, and the possible promenade. Photo by Michael Lanigan There is the space for such a promenade, he said. "There is an area with a couple of big manholes just along the north of the Dart station." As Kelly walked below the wall that separated the beach from the Dart station, there was already a concrete walkway, partially covered by coarse sand, rocks and grass. Eventually, the 450 metre walk was over, and she climbed through a hedge that led out onto the Burrow Road, a quiet street that continued on a parallel trajectory to the train tracks out towards Howth for a kilometre. She didn’t want this to be a case of birds or people, she said. “Sure we’re animals too.”