Reprieve for Scotland’s Lowlands canals
Organisations campaigning to keep one of the world’s oldest sea-to-sea transits open in Scotland say more needs to be done to preserve it.
The Forth & Clyde Canal, which links the Firth of Forth with the Firth of Clyde, is currently blocked after the closure of two road bridges at Twechar and Bonnybridge. Repairs are underway, funded by a £1.6m grant from the Scottish Government, and the route should reopen by April 2019. Dredging work is also planned.
But, Keep Canals Alive! is concerned that there is also restricted opening along sections of the canal.
Scottish Canals, which currently faces a £70m backlog in repairs, said it has limited openings as staff and resources can be better diverted towards maintenance work, and there were just 50 sea-to-sea transits in 2017. It also announced plans to move in 2019 to user-operation opening on the Lowland canals, which includes the Forth & Clyde and the Union Canal, with a new web-based booking system for boaters.
Both the Forth & Clyde and the Union Canal are designated cruising waterways, which requires them to be maintained in a navigational condition.
Graeme Harvey of Keep Canals Alive! is worried that any closure will lead to degradation, just 17 years after the Lowlands canals were restored as part of a £79m Millennium project.
He said a lack of maintenance, like dredging, has put sailors off using the route, and ‘an awful lot of work’ would be needed to persuade them to come back.