The achievement of the community around the Crinan Canal in negotiating a shorter winter closure of the waterway should be applauded as a great example of what people and businesses can achieve when they get organised and go through the proper channels.
It is no mean feat.
Scottish Canals announced plans to carry out its essential winter works programme on the canal over seven months from October to mid-May.
That’s a potentially long period of disruption for nearby residents and canal users – and a hefty potential loss of income for businesses.
So the community got to work.
North Knapdale Community Council secretary Richard Stein and Frances Macdonald, owner of the Crinan Hotel, led the campaign to shorten the period required for the works.
They wanted the repairs to be finished by Good Friday on March 29, 2024, so that businesses around the canal could resume for the Easter holidays.
To be fair, Scottish Canals listened. The grievances of the community attracted national attention. The First Minister, no less, encouraged Scottish Canals to work with the community.
Scottish Canals has now informed the community that it can finish the work in mid-April of 2024 instead of mid-May.
“We were aiming for seven weeks and we got five weeks so we have to feel it is quite a significant victory,” said Stein.
He is right.
The community could have accepted the seven-month closure, but they didn’t. They could have moaned about it and taken no action. But they took action – and they got a result.
The message here is clear: it can be done.