Canal link exceeds expectations

The Falkirk Wheel cost £17.5m to construct

The Millennium Link canal restoration project has helped deliver over £178m of investment and 4,000 jobs in five years, according to researchers.

A study, conducted consultants Roger Tym & Partners, assessed the progress of the project since 2003.

The £84.5m scheme was Europe's largest canal restoration project to link the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals.

The figures go beyond original forecasts set in 1999 which predicted £100m of investment and 3,420 new jobs.

The study also found that the Falkirk Wheel, built to link the canals, has attracted 1.6 million visitors since 2003.

'Strength to strength'

Speaking at the British Waterways Scotland Annual Meeting in Edinburgh, Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson welcomed the findings.

He said: "It is great to see evidence of a renaissance of our canals and waterways.

"We have already seen communities benefit from the increased leisure, tourism, regeneration, and environmental opportunities.

"I want to see this go from strength to strength in years to come."

According to the report, the 68-mile waterway project is also credited with aiding in the development of a thousand new homes and nearly 93,000 sq m of commercial floor space since 1999.

In addition, the Falkirk Wheel, the world's first and only rotating boat lift, has become one of the country's leading visitor attractions.

Steve Dunlop, director Scotland at British Waterways, added: "This is very good news and shows that the huge effort that was undertaken to get the canals open again is now paying off."

'Belief and investment'

In the Lowlands, a range of canal-related projects have also had an economic impact on communities in Bowling, Clydebank, Kirkintilloch, Falkirk, Kilsyth and Linlithgow.

Figures for 2006 show 15.1 million visits to the Lowland canal towpaths, while there are now 111 additional moored boats on the Lowland network and nine additional commercial vessels in operation.

Projections show that the restoration of the Lowland canals has the potential to generate £1.5bn of investment and over 12,500 jobs by 2015.

Stuart Ogg, operations director of Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley and chair of the Lowland Canals Steering Group, said: "We are clearly delighted with these results which are testament to the level of belief and investment in the project and we look forward to continuing to see dividends reaped from the future development of our waterways and adjoining areas."