A group of female students from New College Lanarkshire have been given a tour of the construction site of new council homes in Cumbernauld.

The students, studying general construction through New College Lanarkshire, got first-hand experience of working life on a site, and learned more about the industry during the tour, facilitated by North Lanarkshire Council and developer Lovell.

The tour began with a health and safety briefing by Lovell, before the students – who are all considering a future career in the construction industry – viewed different house types on the new development at Cedar Road, Cumbernauld.

Some of the areas highlighted during the tour were the future proofing in terms of housing for varying needs – such as wider doors on the ground floors for wheelchair access, higher sockets, lower light switches and wet room bathroom facilities. Environmental aspects of the construction were also raised including the insulating of walls, lofts, use of solar panels and energy efficient boilers.

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"The site visit was fun and informative and something we couldn't experience in a classroom setting," explained student, Gillian Johnson. "It was exciting and inspiring to see positive and successful women working in construction roles, encouraging to us all going forward."

Ness Stewart, Community Benefits Officer with North Lanarkshire Council, added: "The tour gave the students an in-depth insight into the various challenges faced during construction and I hope it provided them with useful information they can use in their future careers.

"It's great to organise tours like this one and showcase our new builds which are built with energy efficiency in mind to help minimise running costs for tenants and protect the environment. The students were very enthusiastic to learn more and took advantage of the opportunity to ask a range of questions about construction and the development itself. I wish all of them a very successful future."

We have an ambitious new house building programme and pledge to deliver 5,000 new homes by 2035.