Here’s to area continuing to thrive in 2020

JOHN ROSS SOUTH LAN COUNCIL LEADER

Christmas is a time for giving and sharing happiness and the warmth of the human spirit to help ease us through the darker months, but it is also a chance to look back at the year that has been.

I am lucky to have a view of all council achievements and have been particularly struck by the remarkable accomplishment in completing the schools modernisation programme after 15 years that has seen us carry out the most successful undertaking of its sort in the country.

This £866million modernisation programme means 160 establishments have been modernised since 2004 and that 46,000 children and young people are being taught in a modern, innovative and high-quality setting every school day.

Thinking about education always leads us to think of the world these children will go onto inherit from us, and an important part of that will be the houses they live in.

I have been delighted to see the continued work being done to build new houses across South Lanarkshire.

A significant number of them are much-needed council homes, designed to meet the particular housing needs of the area.

They are constructed with energysaving to the fore, using the latest techniques and materials, and we look forward to seeing more in the year ahead. The common thread is that they are all about the people who are found within them, which is a reminder that the council itself is no different – whatever work it does and services it offers, this is provided by people and is done for the people of South Lanarkshire.

So, at Christmas I’d like to thank those throughout the council and the organisations and volunteers I have seen contribute so much, too, for their hard work and efforts and wish all of the residents of South Lanarkshire a very merry Christmas, a happy NewYear and a wonderful time in 2020.