Hansard

I welcome the opportunity to speak in today’s debate on marine tourism. Although my constituency does not have a large sea coastline, it has a significant share of the River Forth and the start of the Forth and Clyde canal connecting with the Union canal. It also has the largest container port in Scotland at Grangemouth, but that does not tend to attract many tourists, I have to admit.

Falkirk district does have a long history and association with the sea, from ports such as Bo’ness and Carronshore that bustled in centuries gone by, to the Falkirk wheel and the millennium link canal network in the 21st century.

Given that my constituency is closely associated with past and present industrial activity, members are probably wondering what relevance marine tourism has to the people of Grangemouth and the wider Falkirk East constituency. Marine tourism is relevant to and impacts on most parts of Scottish society. It is right and proper that marine tourism has its own national plan and that we debate and consider it separately from tourism in general, but considering it in isolation risks us failing to maximise the opportunities that marine tourism can bring to different sectors.

Marine tourism is already an important part of the Scottish economy and it has a notable impact on rural and remote economies. At this point, I pay tribute to the work and progress of the cross-party group on recreational boating and marine tourism. Convened by our colleague, Stuart McMillan, the CPG has ensured that marine tourism is well and truly on the agenda.

Many people consider marine tourism to be solely coastal tourism and cruising and recreational activities that are undertaken out at sea. I was in Stornoway at the weekend and saw at first hand the new £1.15 million yacht marina at the harbour with its cluster of pontoons and the picturesque port below Lews castle. It aims to tap into the growing west coast sailing market and encourage more yachtsmen to explore the Outer Hebrides. Demand is already surging well beyond expectations, which the harbour board predicted would not happen for three years. Approximately 70 berths are now available, including 43 spaces for larger yachts that were successful and popular last summer.

That success was closely followed by that of the Lochmaddy yacht marina in North Uist that was built by Comann na Mara, or the Society of the Sea, which was the first UK body to secure a local management agreement for community control of a section of the sea bed from the Crown Estate. The Crown Estate has to be commended for the way in which it engages with local bodies to benefit local economies. I am sure that we can expect more of the same when management of the estate is transferred to Scotland. The Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee will take evidence on that tomorrow morning when representatives from the Crown Estate come before us.

Following on from those successes, a local community group plans to build a £1.3 million marina facility and floating pontoons in Tarbert on Harris and Scalpay if an application to the Scottish Government’s coastal community fund is successful. Lots of exciting projects have been completed recently or are planned.

I am waxing lyrical about the Western Isles so I had better turn to my constituency. Grangemouth, Bo’ness and Blackness already have well-established yachting and boating clubs, although they are arguably undersupported. If the Scottish Government is committed to improving marine tourism, it might wish to consider making the Firth of Forth a hub for boating on the east coast. That could improve links to mainland Europe and the Nordic region as well as improving connectivity between other east coast marine activities and my constituency through links with the canal network.

I am worried that Swedes are being advised not to take their yachts into the Scotland’s lowland canals because they badly need to be dredged and boats have been known to get stuck. That is perhaps not the best advert when trying to attract Nordic boat owners with a high disposable income. I hope that the minister takes that issue on board; if there is ever any underspend, putting some resources towards dredging our canals would be most welcome.

I feel that any marine tourism initiative is missing a great asset if it does not use our canals to link tourism between the Clyde and the Forth. The mix of boundaries, local authorities, development plans and conflicting demands can make for a challenging planning environment, but the benefits to our national tourism trade and the improvement to the quality of tourists’ experience far outweigh that.

In summary, it is fair to say that, despite the challenges that we have heard about, it all seems to be heading in the right direction.