North Lanarkshire Council has welcomed the progress being made in their efforts to redesign and repopulate its town centres to vibrant places with mixed use spaces which maximise social, economic and environmental opportunities.

The council is making positive progress, with new housing being delivered, plans for town and community hubs, commercial investment and improvements to our infrastructure.

There are many exciting projects underway as part of 'The Plan' which supports the local economy by creating new jobs, regenerating local communities, and transforming our town centres into multi-use spaces.

Leader of North Lanarkshire Council, Councillor Jim Logue, visited one of the council's latest new housing developments to get underway at Northburn Place, Airdrie, where 31 new homes are being built for rent as part of the council's new house building programme.

He said: "Improving the lives of our residents and regenerating local communities are the drivers behind our ambitious plans.

"The way we shop, live and work has changed significantly over the years, and even more so during the pandemic, so we must move with the times and take a different approach to the traditional town centre. Key elements of these transformation plans include more town centre housing delivered, increased investment and job opportunities, shopping and leisure activities and encouraging visitors.

"We believe that our exciting plans to deliver a mix of housing, retail, hubs providing key public services and greenspace will help our town centres thrive and bring communities together."

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Currently, we have 339 homes under construction with a further 93 due to get underway during this coming year, with completion of 58 new council homes due in August at Lismore Drive, Coatbridge.

Our Holehills site is part of the council's ambitious programme to demolish its tower blocks and replace them with new, high-quality homes for the future. We're building 150 new homes for social rent, in phases, at this site, with completion expected in 2023. This is the largest of our new build developments.

In Airdrie, the former Orrs department store is due to be demolished in September and construction will begin on 20 flatted apartments for social rent, with two commercial properties on the ground floor. Delivering a mix of residential and retail within the town centre and breathing new life into the site. Other Airdrie town centre projects include two new flats being developed in Hallcraig Street and a further two in Graham Street.

In addition to this and to support the improvement of Coatbridge Town Centre, the Bank Street project (9 homes for social rent and 10 supported accommodation units) has begun with the partial demolition of 7-13 Bank Street buildings and with a contractor expected to be appointed later this year.   

Proposals are also being progressed for the conversion of the listed Municipal Buildings at Kildonan Street, Coatbridge. These plans would result in around 49 new homes being delivered (including some new build) as part of our housing supply programme. This development will see the committee room and former burgh chamber retained and converted for touch down and office space for council employees and will be linked to the adjacent school hub.

Two Clyde Valley Housing Association developments at Uppermill Street (14 homes) and Broomknoll Church (30 homes), both in Airdrie, are also providing additional new, affordable homes for local residents.

Councillor Logue, added: "Our plans are bold and ambitious and are being delivered at pace. I hope local residents are excited about our vision and are already seeing some the benefits across their communities. For example, we've used empty sites to build new, affordable homes and are repurposing or redeveloping vacant or used priority buildings within our town centres.

"Our investment is not only changing the face of our town centres and communities, but boosting the local economy too, with community benefits delivered by our new house building programme through community grants and apprenticeships.

"We're committed to transforming our towns and communities to thriving, multi-purpose town centres delivering our vision to make North Lanarkshire the place to live, learn, work, invest and visit."