Chamber and committees

Bryan, I know that your organisation does not have compulsory purchase powers, but do you have any views on those two issues?

Given that you are encouraging more mixed use, is there a need for a general town centre use classification that would cover some of these classes, so people would not need to apply for planning permission to change their use?

Building standards are designed to promote sustainable development and protect the public, but are there any aspects of the building standards system that need to be changed to encourage redevelopment of our town centres?

Bill Lindsay, is there anything we need to change in building standards?

How would you build that into the system?

There has been a suggestion that there is a need for compulsory sale orders. Where land or property has been lying vacant for a number of years, there is an opportunity for an organisation such as yours or the local authority to force the owner to put it up for auction, at which it would be sold to the highest bidder.

I have a question about change of use and the classification system—class 1 shops, class 7 hotels and so on. On our visit to Dumfries, we were shown a number of examples in the high street. One was a former menswear shop that had closed. Someone wanted to convert it into a restaurant, but the local development plan designates all of the main street as class 1. We also saw a couple of units that have lain empty for 20-plus years, if the information that we were given is correct.

In the rapidly changing situation where we have had the pandemic, we want to bring in 20-minute neighbourhoods and we have e-commerce, is the classification system flexible enough to accommodate changes of use? Are any changes required in the system? As I mentioned Dumfries, I had better put those questions to Steve Rogers first.

Bill Lindsay, is there anything that you would like to see changed in the classification system?

Craig Iles, if it is the case that these use class orders were written for a different age 20 years ago, what changes would you like to see?

I thank Fiona Hyslop for introducing the debate. The Edinburgh and Glasgow Union canal, to give it its full name, runs through my constituency of Edinburgh Pentlands—from Slateford to Kingsknowe, and Wester Hailes to Ratho in the west. The canal joined Edinburgh to the Forth and Clyde canal, thus linking Edinburgh to Glasgow and uniting the two cities.

The canal was planned by Hugh Baird so that it would follow the 250 ft contour line along its 31-mile length. The fact that it is on a level means that it has no lock gates, which makes transit along its length quicker. To achieve that, three aqueducts were required—over the water of Leith at Slateford and over the River Almond near Linlithgow and at Ratho.

The canal opened in 1822 and was initially successful, carrying minerals from the mines and quarries in Lanarkshire to Edinburgh. However, in 1842, the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway opened and the canal fell into slow commercial decline and was closed to commercial traffic in 1933, before being finally closed in 1965.

The building of the Wester Hailes estate in my constituency began in 1967, at Dumbryden. Over a mile of the canal from Dumbryden Road to Calder Crescent was filled in and a culvert piped out water through the new estate, due to concerns about child safety.

In 1994, British Waterways, after neglecting the canal for more than 30 years, decided to restore the Union and the Forth and Clyde canals to link up the west and east coasts of Scotland with fully navigable waterways for the first time in more than 35 years. There was a problem, however. The Wester Hailes section needed to be re-opened, with a new channel, new bridges and diverted roads. Work began in late 1999 and took nearly two years to complete.

During that period, as a new channel was being built, it was found that the original stone arch Hailes bridge had been buried inside the Dumbryden Road embankment in the 1960s. It was repaired and is now in use as a footbridge over the canal.

Tomorrow, Scottish Canals will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Union canal in Edinburgh Pentlands by organising a flotilla of canal boats accompanied by musical performances, which will travel from Lochrin basin in central Edinburgh to the Bridge 8 Hub in Wester Hailes. The aim is to celebrate the on-going commercial, social and historical value of the canal to the economy and the local community, by bringing together canal users and canalside communities in a celebration of past, present and future use of the waterway. As part of the celebrations, there will be the world premiere of “Union Caledonia 200” at Harrison park—a song that has been written to commemorate the Union and Caledonian canals’ bicentennial—as well as a variety of musical acts on and off the water.

In my constituency, Wester Hailes residents, supported by Whale Arts Agency and Edinburgh Art Festival, have organised local activities to coincide with the passing of the flotilla, including a canal trail stretching from Hailes quarry park to the Bridge 8 Hub and the Paddle cafe, with a treasure hunt, raft building, art activities with artists Pester and Rossi and a free community meal at Whale Arts.

When I came to Edinburgh in 1982, the Union canal was a neglected ribbon of water through the south-west of the city. It is now a valuable leisure space, whether one is walking, cycling, canoeing or holidaying in one of the canal boats. What a transformation in 40 years. Long may it continue.