Forth and Clyde Canal – Kilsyth Framework
North Lanarkshire Council have commissioned a team led by yellow book with WMUD and Kevin Murray Associates to devise a strategy for the upgrading and management of a short section of the Forth & Clyde Canal at Kilsyth – the Kilsyth Framework. This section of canal is part of the Millennium Link, one of the most significant regeneration projects carried out in Scotland in the last decade.
Our study will explore opportunities for using the Millennium Link as a catalyst for change in Kilsyth and the potential for creating an outstanding canalside environment between Auchinstarry and Castlecary.
THE BRIEF
The aim of the project was to examine the economic and social opportunities associated with the Forth & Clyde Canal and to produce a framework to guide canal related investment in the study area. The brief stated that the framework should be based on three key themes:
- achieving sustainable development
- maximising social and economic benefits
- safeguarding and improving the environmental quality of the area.
The designated study area comprises:
- a section of the Kelvin Valley (including the restored Forth & Clyde Canal) from the Castlecary viaduct in the east, to Auchinstarry in the west
- the town of Kilsyth, including the Colzium estate
- the village of Croy.
AN ACTION PLAN FOR THE KELVIN VALLEY
The consultant team has focused on this study area, although we have treated the boundary flexibly. In our original response to the brief – and again at an early meeting with the clients – we suggested that, while the canal was a key element of the study area it was by no means the only significant catalyst for change. We recommended that the study should be framed within the wider Kelvin Valley context, and this was agreed.
