Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Council helping to build brighter future
Programme provides jobs and funding for projects
A total of 26 jobs have been created while dozens of community groups and schools have received funding and help towards new facilities through North Lanarkshire Council’s housebuilding programme.
The employment opportunities have been created during the past two years, with another 21 people entering training and three supply chains for local businesses being set up as part of the authority’s work to deliver 5000 new homes by 2035.
Officials now expect to see a further 30 people securing work and 96 receiving “targeted skills and training” as the programme continues over the next two years.
Its accompanying community benefits initiative has so far secured £9000 in funding and further help for eight more projects; while another 18 local organisations are due to benefit by 2023.
They include a £22,500 upgrade to the Kirkshaws play area of Parent Action for Safe Play and a further £16,500 of improved play equipment at St Ambrose High in Coatbridge; plus £24,000 for play equipment at Waterloo provided thanks to the council’s development at Dimsdale Road.
Meanwhile, £1100 each went to Wishaw primaries Thornlie and St Thomas’ and Bellshill schools Sacred Heart and Lawmuir primaries for playground and sports equipment.
A further £1000 went to Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire’s health improvement team for its festive toy appeal.
Work on the building projects has also benefited community groups – as contractors donated items including excess topsoil from the site of new houses at Holehills to fill planters for Balmalloch Primary School, while scrap timber from the project at Roberts Street in Wishaw is now being used by Paws for Autism to build kennels and food storage.
Housing and regeneration convener, Councillor Heather Brannan-mcvey, said: “We’re committed to maximising the delivery of community benefits in our contracts for new-build projects.
“We’ve seen young people train for a career in the building sector while still at school and move straight into employment; people out of work for some time have retrained and secured jobs, and new play equipment and resources have been delivered for local children.
“It’s a fantastic way for developers to support the local communities they build in; not just by providing new homes for the area but to feel part of the community and make a difference to the places where they build.”