South Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire Sooth Lanrikshire Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas
Coat of arms Logo
Coordinates: 55°36′N 3°47′W / 55.600°N 3.783°W / 55.600; -3.783Coordinates: 55°36′N 3°47′W / 55.600°N 3.783°W / 55.600; -3.783
Admin HQ	Hamilton
Government
• Body	South Lanarkshire Council Almada Street Hamilton South Lanarkshire ML3 0AA southlanarkshire.gov.uk
• Control	Labour minority (council NOC)
• MPs	Angela Crawley (Lanark and Hamilton East) Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) Margaret Ferrier (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
• MSPs	Aileen Campbell Linda Fabiani James Kelly Michael McMahon Christina McKelvie
Area
• Total	684 sq mi (1,772 km2)
Area rank	Ranked 11th
Population (2010 est.)
• Total	314,000
• Rank	Ranked 5th
• Density	460/sq mi (176/km2)
ONS code	00RF
ISO 3166 code	GB-SLK

South Lanarkshire (Scots: Sooth Lanrikshire, Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the City of Glasgow and contains some of Glasgow's suburbs. It also contains many towns and villages. It also shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and West Lothian. It includes part of the historic county of Lanarkshire.

South Lanarkshire Council

South Lanarkshire Council has its headquarters in Hamilton, has 16,000 employees, and a budget of almost £1bn. The council plan for 2007-2012 when the next council elections are due is Connect. The large and varied council area takes in rural and upland areas, market towns such as Lanark, Strathaven and Carluke, the urban burghs of Rutherglen, Cambuslang, and East Kilbride which was Scotland's first new town.

There are 20 council wards in South Lanarkshire, each represented on the council by 3 or 4 elected councillors using single transferable vote. South Lanarkshire operates a cabinet style system, with key decisions being taken by the Executive Committee, under the leadership of the Council Leader, and approved by the council, led by the provost.

South Lanarkshire shares borders with the unitary authorities of Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, City of Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, West Lothian and Scottish Borders.

The area was formed in 1996, from the areas of Clydesdale, Hamilton and East Kilbride districts, and some outer areas of Glasgow District (Rutherglen/Fernhill, Cambuslang/Halfway and part of King's Park/Toryglen).

Political composition

Since the 2012 local government election, a by-election was held for Rutherglen South (Ward 11) on Thursday 14 February 2013 and for Hamilton South (Ward 19) on Thursday 24 October 2013. The current political composition is 2 Independents, 3 Conservative, 35 Labour, 1 Liberal Democrat and 26 SNP.^[1] The Council is currently ruled by a Labour Group majority administration.^[2]

Council Headquarters

South Lanarkshire Council Headquarters

The Council Headquarters building, on Almada Street, Hamilton, was built as the Lanark County Buildings in 1963, and designed by Lanark council architect D G Bannerman. The 16 storey, 165 foot tower is the largest in Hamilton, and is a highly visible landmark across this part of the Clyde Valley. The modernist design was influenced by the United Nations building in New York. Glass curtain walls cover the north and south facades, with the narrow east and west sides being blank white walls. At the front of the building is the circular council chamber, and a plaza with water features. It is known by locals as the "County Buildings".

Towns and villages

Principal settlements

Other settlements

Places of interest

• Hamilton Mausoleum
• Bothwell Castle
• Strathaven Castle
• John Hastie Museum, Strathaven
• Low Parks Museum, Hamilton
• Rutherglen Town Hall and medieval church tower
• Chatelherault Country Park, near Hamilton, including Cadzow Castle
• Craignethan Castle
• David Livingstone Centre, in Blantyre
• Dollan Baths, East Kilbride
• Falls of Clyde
• Little Sparta, near Dunsyre near Lanark
• New Lanark, a World Heritage Site
• Clyde Valley
• Sites of the Battle of Drumclog and the Battle of Bothwell Bridge

Tertiary education

• South Lanarkshire College
• University of the West of Scotland (formerly Bell College, University Of Paisley)

See also

• Routes To Work South

References

External links

• South Lanarkshire Council homepage
• South Lanarkshire at DMOZ

Settlements in South Lanarkshire
Towns	Biggar Blantyre Bothwell Cambuslang Carluke East Kilbride Hamilton Larkhall Lanark Lesmahagow Rutherglen Strathaven Uddingston
Villages and hamlets	Abington Allanton Ashgill Auchengray Auchenheath Auldhouse Blackwood Braidwood Caldermill Carnwath Carstairs Junction Carstairs Village Cartland Chapelton Coalburn Coulter Crawford Crawfordjohn Crossford Dalserf Dolphinton Douglas Dunsyre Elsrickle Forth Garrion Bridge Glassford Jackton Kilncadzow Kirkfieldbank Kirkmuirhill Law Leadhills New Lanark Newbigging Nerston Pettinain Quarter Quothquan Ravenstruther Rigside Roberton Rosebank Sandford Stonehouse Symington Tarbrax Thankerton Thorntonhall Tillietudlem Wiston Woolfords Yieldshields
List of places in South Lanarkshire