South Lanarkshire

South Lanarkshire Sooth Lanrikshire Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas
Logo Coat of arms
Location
Geography
Area	Ranked 11th
• Total	1,772 km2 (684 sq mi)
Admin HQ	Hamilton
ISO 3166-2	GB-SLK
ONS code	00RF
Demographics
Population	Ranked 5th
• Total (2010 est.)	311,900
• Density	176/km2
Politics
South Lanarkshire Council Almada Street Hamilton South Lanarkshire ML3 0AA http://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/
Control
TBA (council NOC)
MPs	Jimmy Hood (Lanark and Hamilton East) Michael McCann (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) David Mundell (Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
MSPs	Aileen Campbell Linda Fabiani James Kelly Michael McMahon Christina McKelvie

South Lanarkshire (Scots: Sooth Lanrikshire, Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller 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

South Lanarkshire Local Election Result 2007
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	33	N/A	N/A	-19	44.8	39.6	48,677
	SNP	28	N/A	N/A	+15	35.8	29.2	35,866
	Conservative	3	N/A	N/A	+4	11.9	12.9	15,924
	Liberal Democrats	1	N/A	N/A	0	3.0	7.2	8,897
	Scottish Green	0	N/A	N/A	0	0.0	2.7	3,354
	East Kilbride Alliance	0	N/A	N/A	0	0.0	1.2	1,511
	Scottish Socialist	0	N/A	N/A	0	0.0	0.8	966
	Scottish Unionist	0	N/A	N/A	0	0.0	0.7	912
	Solidarity	0	N/A	N/A	0	0.0	0.2	261
	Scottish Christian	0	N/A	N/A	0	0.0	0.1	180
	Independent	2	N/A	N/A	0	4.5	5.2	6,422

Since the 2012 local government election, there have been some changes and the current political composition is 2 Independents, 3 Conservative, 33 Labour, 1 Liberal Democrat and 28 SNP. The council remains in no overall control of any one individual political party.

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

• Blantyre
• Cambuslang
• Carluke
• East Kilbride
• Hamilton
• Lanark
• Larkhall
• Rutherglen
• Strathaven

Other settlements

• Abington
• Ashgill
• Auchengray
• Auchenheath
• Auldhouse
• Biggar
• Blackwood
• Bothwell
• Braehead
• Braidwood
• Burnside
• Carmichael
• Carnwath
• Carstairs
• Chapelton
• Cleghorn
• Coalburn
• Cobbinshaw
• Coulter
• Crawford
• Crawfordjohn
• Crossford
• Dalserf
• Dolphinton
• Douglas
• Douglas Water
• Elsrickle
• Forth
• Glassford
• Glespin
• Kilncadzow
• Kirkfieldbank
• Kirkmuirhill
• Law Village
• Leadhills
• Lesmahagow
• Newbigging
• Nerston
• Pettinain
• Quarter
• Quothquan
• Rigside
• Rosebank
• Sandford
• Stonehouse
• Symington
• Tarbrax
• Thankerton
• Thorntonhall
• Uddingston
• Waterfoot (Part Of)
• Wiston
• Woolfords

Places of interest

• Hamilton Mausoleum
• Bothwell Castle
• Strathaven Castle
• John Hastie Museum, Strathaven
• Low Parks Museum, Hamilton
• 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
• Glasgow Zoo (Closed 2003)

Tertiary Education

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

External links

• South Lanarkshire Council homepage
• South Lanarkshire at the Open Directory Project