North Lanarkshire The Place, The Vision 1 Written, designed and produced by Corporate Communications, North Lanarkshire Council. Design concepts provided by: Ironside Farrar Ltd, Environmental Consultants - Town Vision design concepts Norr, Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Design - Town and community hub design concepts All statistics and information correct at date of print: March 2020. North Lanarkshire / The Place, The Vision Contents Introduction .............................................................................. 5 Motherwell ......................................................................... 39 The Scale of the Challenge ....................................................... 6 Shotts ............................................................................... 43 Recent Developments .............................................................. 8 Wishaw ............................................................................. 47 A Vision for our Towns .............................................................. 10 Town and Community Hubs ..................................................... 51 Key Trends ................................................................................ 12 Country Parks for the Future ..................................................... 57 Town Visions ............................................................................ 17 Connecting North Lanarkshire .................................................. 61 Airdrie ................................................................................ 19 Communities Decide ............................................................... 65 Bellshill .............................................................................. 23 Appendices ............................................................................... 69 Coatbridge ......................................................................... 27 Appendix 1: Developments within each area ............................. 70 Cumbernauld .................................................................... 31 Appendix 2: Business Investment ............................................. 82 Kilsyth ............................................................................... 35 3 4 NorthOne Place Lanarkshire The Future / The of NorthPlace, Lanarkshire The Vision North Lanarkshire / The Place, The Vision Introduction This is North Lanarkshire. This is the place to Live, Learn, Work, Invest and Visit. This is our vision. We have come a long way. One of the fastest growing economies in Scotland. The most ambitious council housebuilding programme in the country. Record levels of infrastructure investment and dozens of new schools. These are just a few examples. The Plan for North Lanarkshire, approved in 2019, offered a clear way forward. It offered a shared ambition for inclusive growth and prosperity for all and we are delivering on that ambition. We’re making huge progress, with investment and development happening in all our towns and communities. But what comes next? How do we deal with the undoubted challenges that remain, like unacceptably high levels of deprivation and child poverty, in-work poverty and areas of inequality across communities? How do we become the agents of change for towns and communities to ensure they have a sustainable future in the face of declining revenue budgets? This report sets out our vision, recognising that it cannot be delivered by the council alone. We plan to invest £3.5billlion over the next 10 years, creating around 12,000 jobs and generating an additional £1billion for the local economy. This is a vision for North Lanarkshire, the place to Live, Learn, Work, Invest and Visit. 5 THE SCALE OF THE CHALLENGE 6 North Lanarkshire / The Place, The Vision North Lanarkshire / The Place, The Vision North Lanarkshire is not without its challenges. More people of working Average weekly full-time earnings age claim Jobseekers’ are lower than the Scottish average Allowance and Universal and the number of working-age people Credit in North Lanarkshire without formal qualifications is higher than the Scottish average. We have significantly high levels than the Scottish average. of child poverty, with around Life expectancy rates are 25% of children lower and breastfeeding living in poverty across the area. rates are markedly lower. These are some of the reasons why inclusive growth must be at the heart of any action the council takes. There is good news too. Our working-age employment rate Overall, our economy is higher than the Scottish average has grown by 23% and over last four years, we have a 6% over the last decade, 94.3% of young increase in the number of residents finding with increases in the people reach a positive employment, double the national increase. number of businesses destination, whether higher Youth employment is also higher than the and new businesses. education, further education national average, with a 9% increase or employment. We have one in the number of young people in of the largest apprenticeship employment compared with a 1% increase programmes in the country. across Scotland. 7 Recent Developments We’ve already made significant achievements, with massive investment in our ambition in recent years. Appendix 1 contains full details for each town and its surrounding area, but some of the highlights are noted here. In Wishaw, 51 houses have been completed at NEW COUNCIL HOUSING Walkerburn Drive, Colteness, and Cambusnethan We already have one of the most ambitious council Primary School, with 61 new houses on site and 136 housebuilding programmes in the country, with all planned. areas across North Lanarkshire benefitting from Including buy backs, nearly 2500 houses are complete, modern, accessible, flexible and energy-efficient new on site or planned at this stage in the programme with homes. sites across the whole of North Lanarkshire. In Cumbernauld, 139 houses have been completed with sites for 110 more houses already identified. Completed sites include North Road, Cardowan Drive, ECONOMIC REGENERATION Kildrum Nursery and Cedar Road Nursery. DELIVERY PLAN In Airdrie, 77 houses are completed, with sites Investment is already underway in our towns. 212 identified for a further 219. Sites completed include homes in towns or on the edge of towns will be built those at Alexandra, Albert and Clarkston Primary over the next two years. £3.6million has been invested Schools. in the acquisition of vacant and derelict sites to support In Bellshill, 76 houses are completed, with 27 on further 113 planned. 50 houses are complete at residential conversion and there are proposals to site and a further 55 planned. Completions include 20 Gartferry Road, 21 at Greenlee Road in Chryston and support housing associations with a further £600,000 houses at Belvidere Primary while 27 houses are under 11 at Coshneuk Road in Millerston. to help to develop town centre sites. construction at Caledonian Road. In Kilsyth, 30 houses have been completed in Investment of £2million has already been made to In Coatbridge, 139 houses are completed, with 58 Fisher Avenue, while in Harthill 20 houses have been support new town centre infrastructure including car completed at Harthill Primary and in Shotts 16 houses on site and 460 planned. Sites completed include 20 park improvements, with a further £2million planned. are planned at Bon Accord Crescent. houses at Old School Court and 58 currently being built The council is already working on a number of other at St James Primary. Motherwell has 118 completed houses, including at feasibility studies to support future town centre 177 houses have been completed in Moodiesburn Ravenscraig and the former Calder Primary, with plans regeneration activity. and surrounding areas, with 10 more on site and a for a further 80. 8 North Lanarkshire / The Place, The Vision North Lanarkshire / The Place, The Vision TOWER STRATEGY Our towers have provided generations of people with high-quality, secure homes. But they are not sustainable or adaptable and that’s why the council approved the demolition of all our towers. The first three have been handed over to demolition contractors with more to come this year and over the next two years. More than 80% of tower residents agreed with our strategy and we have worked closely with tenants to ensure a smooth transition to alternative homes. SCHOOLS AND CENTRES Schools across North Lanarkshire have been replaced with state- of-the-art facilities since 2000. Recently completed builds include St Edwards and Tollbrae joint campus and Hilltop Primary in Airdrie and Cumbernauld Academy. The council has committed to replacing all schools not rebuilt since 1996 through the community investment fund. Newly built early learning and childcare facilities will open in 2020 in Netherton, Chapelhall, Carbrain, Bonkle, Petersburn, Coltness, Forgewood, Wishawhill and Cumbernauld Village. GLASGOW CITY REGION CITY DEAL As part of the £1.13billion Glasgow City Region City Deal, £4million has already been invested in cutting edge life science facilities at MediCity Scotland. The Gartcosh to Glenboig Link Road is complete, and improvement work to park and ride facilities and Muir Street will shortly start at Motherwell Station. The Pan Lanarkshire Orbital makes up the bulk of the council’s City Deal projects, with better access from the M74 to Ravenscraig and the upgrading of the A73 East Airdrie Link making it easier to do business and access employment across North Lanarkshire,