Lib Dem councillor Tim McKay wants developers to create more public access points to the canal, and more small businesses to open at the waterside in Wester Hailes and Ratho.

The plans are part of the city's new canals and Millennium Link blueprint – which also includes renaming the area between Harrison Park and the Lochrin Basin as the "canal quarter".

Under the scheme, dozens of new boat moorings are envisaged on a stretch of the canal between Polwarth and Fountainbridge.

But Mr McKay said he wanted to see the whole waterway opened up for new investment during his tenure as canal champion.

He said: "Edinburgh's canal really is an amazing thing. It is a monument but yet it has the potential for so many business and leisure opportunities along its entire length.

"At the moment, we have a great facility at the Fountainbridge end of the canal, but there are still a lot of people who don't fully appreciate exactly what is there."

The council is concerned that some people have mistakenly thought Lochrin Basin was in the Leith docks, one of the reasons for the rebranding.

Cllr McKay said: "There are big developments planned for this area that have proposed things like better access to the towpath and more public art . . . but I would like to see even more happening.

"I want to see more developers trying to design walkways or new closes leading to the water as an integral part of their schemes. If there is easier access, then there is the potential for more small businesses to set up on the canal."

The role of canal champion was first held by the then Fountainbridge councillor Lorna Shiels in May 2005, but has been vacant for the past year.

Plans being drawn up for the Union Canal include a "gateway" at Wester Hailes with spaces for new small businesses.

Plans for a marina at Ratho are also being discussed, along with new crossings to provide links to the Bridge Inn and Ratho adventure centre.

Cameron Stott, director of Jones Laing LaSalle and an agent for the Edinburgh Quay development, said: "I welcome the appointment of a new canal champion.

"The Fountainbridge area is now an important mixed-use quarter with offices, shops, restaurants and cafes and the canal is key to this regeneration."