Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab): 8. To ask the Scottish Executive what work it is doing to improve the local environment around the canal network. (S4O-01136)
The Minister for Environment and Climate Change (Stewart Stevenson):
We provide British Waterways Scotland with Scottish Government grant support of £10 million per year. British Waterways works closely with partners across Scotland to make a significant and positive impact. An example is the Helix Trust project, which attracted funding of £25 million from the Big Lottery Fund and transformed around 350 hectares of underused land into vibrant new parkland.
Sarah Boyack: I very much welcome the minister’s answer. In Edinburgh, the Fountainbridge canalside initiative has been formed by local enthusiasts to promote better environmental quality, an urban orchard, allotments and increased biodiversity. What support is available to help such groups to progress their plans and bring them to fruition?
Stewart Stevenson: I very much share Sarah Boyack’s interest in canals. In urban settings such as Fountainbridge there are big opportunities to improve the environment by using the canal as an anchor point. Partnership working with British Waterways Scotland, which is well used to working directly with a range of community bodies, is the most appropriate approach.
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About Stewart Stevenson
Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - Bell Baxter - and studied Mathematics at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with a modest degree in 1969. That's also the year Sandra & I married. Her family comes from the North East.Thirty years later I retired from Bank of Scotland as Director of Technology Innovation and was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2001 as member for Banff & Buchan having first joined the SNP in 1961.
I then represented the new constituency of Banffshire & Buchan Coast Constituency in our Parliament. I retired as an MSP on 5th May 2021
I was also previously (2007-2010), Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change and (2011-2012), Minister for Environment and Climate Change.
I hold the honorary posts of President of the Scottish Association for Public Transport
and Vice-President of Railfuture UK.I am a Fellow of The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a Member at The Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Professional Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, a Member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists and an Associate Member of the Highland Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Association.
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