Scotland’s first community moorings approach launch date
COMMUNITY Moorings Scotland (CMS) is planning the launch of its first moorings on March 14, after the moorings ballot closed in January and subject to the completion of legal documents.
The idea of community-owned moorings was born in 2015 and the charity formed in 2017, with the desire to create amazing places on vibrant canals for people and boats – linking local communities to the waterways and providing boaters with an alternative to Scottish Canals’ moorings.
After six years of negotiation with Scottish Canals, the first moorings will be located at Narrowboat Farm, near Linlithgow, on the Union Canal.
CMS is working towards community, not-for-profit moorings at other locations along the Lowland canals. Initial talks have taken place with Glasgow City Council about the disused municipal golf course at Ruchill in north Glasgow where there could be moorings on the Forth & Clyde Canal east towards Lambhill and down the Glasgow Branch from Stockingfield Junction and the new pedestrian bridge.
It’s anticipated that other community enterprises with similar aims would be active on this large area of unused ground.
Other potential locations on the Forth & Clyde include offside and off-grid moorings on the stretch of canal between Glasgow Bridge and Kirkintilloch, close to the Forth & Clyde Canal Society’s slip and moorings and in Kirkintilloch town itself, along the disused moorings between Southbank Marina and Townhead Bridge.
There’s a disused dry dock here which could be put into operation and the site could, potentially, be the location of a brokerage for all the boats on sale on the Lowland Canals, unlocking residential moorings where boats for sale sit.
Other locations along the Union Canal suitable for unserviced, off- grid moorings are being explored with Scottish Canals and local authorities.
In December last year, CMS joined Surge Co-op and the River Roding Trust, both based on East London rivers, in an IWA webinar exploring community mooring projects and the different approaches.
Community moorings are essentially affordable housing, promoting the concepts of sustainability, self- sufficiency and care for local environments. A recording of the webinar can be watched on IWA’s YouTube channel: https : / / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=lv98VaHzWcA&t=134s.
CMS is focusing on the Lowland Canals and hopes that other organisations will follow its example on the Highland Caledonian and Crinan canals.
Go to communitymoorings.com to find out more about CMS online.