This study assessed the economic impacts of 6 canal development projects in England, to help inform the types of development that might be secured in Scotland, particularly through the Millennium Link projects. The sites covered were of various types and scales, ranging from a small-scale recreation development in a rural area (Goytre, Wales) to a major city centre redevelopment (Birmingham’s Waterfront, England).
The study found that despite the different nature of the schemes involved, in all cases the canal was found to be a key success factor. The presence of the canal within the schemes:-
1. Enhances their attractiveness for housing, pubs and restaurants. In the case of housing, a previous study carried out on behalf of British Waterways indicated that waterside residential properties in a quality location can command premiums of 15 to 20%;
2. Provides a focus for a diverse range of leisure and tourist-based attractions;
3. Encourages office and industrial development. Although the presence of the canal may not lead to increased rental values, it improves the overall marketability of schemes;
4. Provides a linking and integrating factor between the sometimes diverse components of schemes.

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A prototype public on-line cataloguing system has been developed for the Scottish waterways. The Scottish canal records, spanning three centuries, provide a unique insight not only into the development of canals, but also to the people and communities around them. The archives are physically held at a number of separate locations. A “virtual archive” web site has therefore been developed to catalogue the records and make them accessible to the public. Many of these records have never before been publicly available. The records can be browsed through their different levels and subjects or accessed through indexes or word searches. It is intended that this site will form a prototype for the on-line access of canal archives throughout Europe. As a first stage it will be linked to the VNF Archive centre and “eRoom” at Toulouse. The address of the site is www.thewaterwaystrust.com/archives/virtualarchive/.

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The purpose of this project was to use the historic culture of the canal and its users as an attraction for tourists and as a focus for community development. The project consisted of research into the traditional music and folklore of the Caledonian Canal, which provides a link between the Gaelic language culture of the western Highlands of Scotland and the Scots culture of the east coast. Songs and stories were researched and recorded. They were then assembled and used in a series of four performances in 1999 for local primary schools, followed by four public performances. The show was also recorded on tape.

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During the summers of 1998, 1999 and 2000, a series of visitor surveys were undertaken at sites along the Scottish canals. In total 5 surveys were undertaken on the Caledonian Canal, 5 on the Lowlands canals and 1 on the Crinan Canal. The surveys are designed to collect information on:-
— Customer care;
— Safety;
— Conflicts between different users of the canal;
— Visitor characteristics and preferences;
— Activities undertaken; and
— Expenditure during visits.
The surveys highlighted the predominantly local use of the Lowlands Canals, which are being restored to navigation, in contrast with the tourist use of the Caledonian and Crinan Canals.
In addition to these site surveys, separate surveys of boaters on the Caledonian and Crinan Canals were also undertaken in 2000. The results of these surveys were used to inform the development of a plan for marketing the canals to visiting yachtsmen, including those from other European countries.

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Special events are considered to be an effective way of attracting visitors to canals, as well as engendering community interest and involvement. Such an event – the Great Glen Raid –was held on the Caledonian Canal during Summer 1999. This had a transnational cultural dimension through incorporating an assembly of traditional boats from throughout North-west Europe. Thirty four boats participated in the event. The success of the event is shown by the fact that it is planned to hold a second “Raid” in June 2001.

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The restoration to navigation of the Lowlands canals across the centre of Scotland, will open up a new water recreation opportunity for boats to transit across Scotland as well as for boating holidays on the canal itself. As the scheme moves towards completion, there is a need to begin to market the opportunities which will become available. Partners in the project attended a Workshop in Falkirk in 1998 to develop a strategy for marketing the canal. A key element in the success of the project will be through attracting boats to the canal. As part of the project, research was carried out into the geo-demographic profile of potential boat owners. Through this research, it was found that boat owners are drawn from a relatively small number of groups within the general population. This will facilitate precisely-targeted marketing and promotion to these groups.
A second key success factor will be the involvement of local communities in the canal. One of the actions identified in the Strategy was the establishment of water-based activities for young people. This has formed the stimulus for a canoeing pilot project on the Union Canal, which forms part of the Interreg IIC North Sea Region project Spatial Integration through linking Inland Waterway Networks, involving partners in Netherlands, Germany and the UK.

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The educational potential of canals is widely recognised. Canals form a significant educational resource across many aspects of the curriculum. At the same time, the involvement and interest of children in canals at an early age may ultimately help reduce anti-social activities such as vandalism. Assemblies of artefacts and documents relating to resources are a recognised way of providing material for use by schools. This project involved identifying and assembling the key material for inclusion in an education chest related specifically to the Caledonian Canal. As a result of the successful implementation of this project, it is intended to extend the use of education chests to other waterways.

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In tourism terms, canal-based activities can be linked to other outdoor activities to develop a package of tourism products, which can be promoted together. The Caledonian Canal passes through a largely forested area, with the towpath providing a link between forest roads and paths. In conjunction with the Forestry Commission, a project was developed to promote these links for cycling. Through the project, cycling routes and connections with the canal and local facilities were identified. These were mapped and promotional material prepared to emphasise the multi-activity potential of canal-based holidays.

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To increase visitor interest and involvement in inland waterways, it is important that adequate interpretation is provided to enhance the quality of the visits. Interpretation can be carried out through a number of different media, ranging from passive interpretation boards and printed material (such as books and leaflets) to more inter-active forms of communication, such as audio tapes, video and electronic data sources and events, storytelling, arts projects etc. Because of changes in use, on many canals, there are underused or derelict buildings. These can provide opportunities for developing low-key visitor facilities and associated interpretation. On the Caledonian Canal, one of the lock side buildings at Fort Augustus was converted in this way in 1998/99 as a Heritage Centre.
During the first year of operation (1999) the Centre opened for 22 weeks over the Summer period (May-October) and achieved 14 608 visitors. In 2000, the number of visitors was down slightly (to 13 547), although the amount they spent in the Centre increased from £12 000 to £16 500. This reflects the decrease in numbers of tourists in general in Scotland in 2000, caused in part by the strength of the pound.

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The Millennium Link project is concerned with restoring the Forth and Clyde and Union canals across the centre of Scotland to navigation. The aim of restoration is to revitalise the canals to create a major leisure and tourism facility, to conserve and enhance their natural and built heritage and to generate economic and social benefits to the local community. An Environment and Recreation plan has been prepared to inform and guide the environmental management of the project and ensure that the development of recreation facilities along the canal is carried out in a sustainable way.
The Plan provides:-
— a strategic overview of the data, issues, conflicts, aspirations and external influences associated with the management of the canal;
— a framework for balanced decision-making and long-term management;
— a tool for identifying priorities, opportunities, vulnerabilities and for influencing third parties;
— a framework for the conservation and enhancement of the value and character of the waterway.

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Recreational use of inland waterways is of two types - commercial and “public good” recreation. Commercial recreation involves some payment for use of the waterways e.g.. licence and mooring fees for boats; permit fees for angling. For other types of recreation, such as walking along the canal towpath, there is generally no charge. Also in the case of the latter type of recreation, it is often difficult to estimate the number of participants in the activity, due to the open access nature of the recreation resource.
Estimates of towpath usage are required for a number of reasons, including:-
— Waterway management and planning;
— Supporting and monitoring funding bids for waterway development projects;
— Estimating the environmental impacts of visitors.
To help predict visitors to sites, a possible innovative approach is to model informal recreation demand, by linking a travel-cost model approach with geographic information systems. In this project, carried out by the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, we have developed and tested such an approach, using the waterways in Scotland as a pilot, supplemented by data from other canal sites around the UK.

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The Caledonian and Crinan Canals are visited by sea-going yachts and cruisers from other parts of the UK and from overseas countries, particularly those in North-west Europe (Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia). Once restored to navigation, the Millennium Link will create a water link for yachts between the east coast of Scotland and the popular sailing areas of the Firth of Clyde and Western Isles. To help develop this market, a strategy has been prepared to promote the Scottish waterways to both overseas yachtsmen (including those from the VEV partner waterways) and to visitors from elsewhere in the UK
As part of this promotion, a web site for the Scottish waterways has been established – www.scottishcanals.co.uk. This site contains details about what to see and do in the area, as well as providing skippers of boats with navigation and facility information. The site also has an “e-commerce” facility, whereby licences and additional information can be purchased on-line, in advance of the visit. This feature forms a prototype for the use of “e-commerce” by waterways authorities throughout Europe. Lessons learnt from its use will be made available to other VEV partners to help them with the development of their web sites.

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The Committees were held as scheduled in the programme and were attended by approximately 40 delegates. The day of the monitoring and programming committee sessions was decisive, as a large number of individual projects were given the go-ahead on this occasion. The programme schedule, comprising two days in the field, was justified by the value of observing work progress on two very different canals: the Caledonian Canal, already strongly established as tourist attraction, but in an area of very low population density, and the Forth-Clyde and Union Canals, the restoration of which is in progress, crossing very densely populated territories.

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This seminar was held in Inverness from 30th March to 1st April 2000. The 12 workshops provided the 45 delegates, representing all the VEV partners and those of several other Terra projects, with the opportunity of reflecting on concrete proposals to be submitted to the European Commission on the role and position of Living Waterways in the ESDP, in the Economic and social cohesion policy, in the employment policy, in the sustainable development and spatial planning policy.
Each workshop started from an initial report. The debates were led by a moderator. The guidelines negociated during the meeting prepared the proposed orientations and/or decisions that were subsequently presented to the elected representatives standing on the Monitoring Committee during the Committee meetings held in Sweden (May 2000).
Staff exchange: Scottish Waterways - Canal du Centre
Following the success of the visit of the staff of the Canal du Centre in March 2000 to the Caledonian Canal, a reciprocal visit was organised by Belgium for Scottish waterways in December 2000. This visit was very valuable for the operators who took part in this exchange, providing them with the opportunity of comparing their respective practices.

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