South Lanarkshire Council invest over £8 million in leisure and culture facilities

South Lanarkshire Council will invest £8.4 million to improve leisure facilities across the area.

The council announced top priorities that will be tackled as part of its Transformational Fund which includes focusing on modernisation of leisure venues across the area and tackling net zero targets.

And the “jewels of the crown” that are Hamilton, Rutherglen and Lanark town halls will receive £1.8 million of the cash.

The fund has been created in recognition of the challenges faced by South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC).

Council Leader Joe Fagan (East Kilbride Central North), praised the fund and the work that has been done to ensure investment is made into public services.

He said: “The issues that sit behind this have been long-standing for many years and I think the way that the council, and I say council as a whole, has chosen to tackle the issues is the right one.”

The £8.4 million is the first phase of investment, rising to £13 million in the future to help modernise the leisure and culture estate and optimise the use of assets and to assist the transition towards net zero.

The first phase of the cash will go towards proposals which were approved on May 8, with a further phase of investment to be laid out in the near future.

Detailed projects have not been finalised, therefore the cost for projects are estimates. Work is underway to create a detailed brief for each property, setting out the specifications, outcomes and more specific budget.

Labour’s Cllr Fagan added: “We’ve got to be open about the challenges, open about the quality of the estate, the imperative that sits behind a transition to net zero, and we’ve also had to be honest and be prepared to ask people to pay that little bit more in their council tax, not in this year’s budget, but in the previous year’s budget, still with the lowest council tax on mainland Scotland, in order to fund investment, and that approach that was endorsed by the council was the right one.

“It’s making investment that’s included in this paper today possible, and I want to thank all the council groups and all those who supported us in taking that position.”

Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, councillor Robert Brown, (Rutherglen South), also welcomed the report and elements of the investment.

He said: “I really just wanted to welcome the report, it’s a very comprehensive report at this stage, and moving forward the money that we invested last year, I say ‘we’, this is really money that’s been provided by the citizens of South Lanarkshire through the additional provisions we made and against the thinning capital budget we got from central government.

“I’d like to particularly welcome two aspects of it, firstly the investments going into the gym and fitness studio element, and what I understand is that this is one of the more profitable bits of the service and it will enable us to provide updated and modern facilities.

“Perhaps not surprising I’m also happy to welcome the item that relates to Hamilton, Rutherglen and Lanark town halls. Now these are the jewels of the crown in many regards as they key facilities across the council and in part with regard to the 900th anniversary of the Royal Burgh of Rutherglen coming up in 2026. It’s great to see the investment into the town hall and the registrar’s area nearby which I think will contribute to continuing to having first class facilities in these areas, and I think this is really good investment and it will hopefully make a real difference to our viable estate in coming years.”

The first phase of the Transformational Fund will see a wide range of investments throughout South Lanarkshire.

A total of £1.8 million will be invested in Hamilton, Rutherglen and Lanark town halls. This goes towards upgrading the halls to a modern standard and to maximise the use/income and enhance customer experience. And, £300,000 will go towards refurbishing the registrars’ areas to create additional usable space with income-generating potential.

Other investment includes £500,000 at Hamilton Water Palace for ventilation and fabric upgrade and refurbishment of fitness the studio.

Blantyre Sports Centre will receive £1million for ventilation and fabric along with internal remodelling and the gym and fitness studio modernisation.

There will also be investment in a gym/fitness studios modernisation programme – £1.9 million will go towards equipment with £840,000 going towards studios. The council plans to replace all gym equipment across sites and upgrade studios.

A total of £150,000 will go towards the John Wright Sports Centre to replace main sports hall on floors one, two and three and to refurbish the reception and hall three.

Fairhill Lifestyles will see a £5000 investment to investigate extending the gym area.

A total of £100,000 will be invested into the Murray Owen Centre in East Kilbride for adaptation to accommodate additional public daytime lets and diversify use. The Oxford dipper pool hoist will receive £120,000 to improve the swimming pool experience for residents who have access issues.

There will be an £80,000 investment in Hamilton Palace Sports Ground to upgrade male and female foyer toilets and replace a passenger lift.

James Hamilton Heritage Park in East Kilbride will also receive £30,000 of funds to refit ladies’ and gents’ changing rooms, including showers.

Coalburn Leisure Facility will see a £200,000 investment to upgrade the pool, poolside/changing, enhance customer experience, increase use and extend the useful life of the property.

Hillhouse and Earnock Community Centre will receive £100,000 to refurbish the former library area and create an alternative letable space.

An investment of £30,000 will be made in Chatelherault Country Park to refurbish the reception/foyer/cafe area to create a social dwelling space, upgrade to both internal and external public toilets and refurbishment of exhibition space.

The council will also put £30,000 towards museum stores to centralise museum stores to release crosshouse property for sale and explore options for public access to collections on request.

And £30,000 will be put towards works at the conservatory at Calderglen Country Park. Improvements will include a roof replacement and energy efficiency measures and modernisation of the visitor experience following a review of the future operational requirements of a zoo and potential for alternative opportunities such as research/education.

Lifestyles Eastfield will receive £50,000 for battery storage for solar panels to improve efficiency of current panels.

A total of £80,000 will be invested in HPSG on LED lights upgrade of indoor sports pitch and floodlight conversion for five-a-side pitches and tennis courts.

John Wright Sports Club will receive £50,000 to to investigate resolution of the athletics hub power supply to allow for LED upgrade to floodlights and re-introduction of 11-a-side football increasing income potential.

A total of £50,000 will be put towards the former Farmcross Hall in Rutherglen and £50,000 will be invested in the former bowling pavilion in Carnwath Park.

Hamilton Palace Sports Ground will receive £80,000 to remove an abandoned play park to allow for additional parking and to address anti-social behaviour.

A total of £300,000 will be invested in library provision in the area including setting up of library space in a number of alternative venues with locations still to be identified.

And improvements to accessibility will be made across locations, with a total of £650,000 going towards improving access, door entry and security facilities.

Leader of the Conservative group and Clydesdale East Councillor Alex Allison questioned if investment would still be made in the facilities if a community asset transfer is made.

He said: “Just to confirm that none of the assets here for funding are subject to an asset transfer at the moment, and if they did become subject to an asset transfer would they still be subject to investment?

“Secondly, I’d like to welcome the only investment in Clydesdale to the Lanark town hall, but that does seem a little bit strange when in the last few years, it had a major refurbishment.”

Council officials confirmed that none of the facilities are subject to a community asset transfer and considerations would be made at the time of the asset transfer if one is made.

For Lanark town hall, the council plans to invest more improvements in the facility as well as the recent refurbishment.

The council investment comes after SLLC announced earlier this year that it had to withdraw its service from 35 community halls, libraries and other facilities due to budgetary pressures.

Facilities in Cambuslang and Rutherglen in the consultation were Halfway Library, Cambuslang Library, Eastfield Community Centre, North Halfway Hall and Peter Brownlie and pitches.

In Clydesdale, the facilities were Braehead Hall, Carmichael Hall, Carstairs Junction Hall, Coulter Hall, Crawford Hall, Crossford Hall, Tom Craig Centre, Carstairs Community Centre, Douglas St Bride’s Hall, Forth Library, Pettinain Hall and Thankerton Hall.

Facilities in East Kilbride were Calderwood Hall, Greenhills Hall, Greenhills Library, Kirktonholme Hall, Strathaven Park (seasonal activity), Westwood Hall and Stewartfield Community Centre.

In the Hamilton area the facilities were: Blantyre Library, Ferniegair Hall, High Blantyre Hall, Hillhouse Library, Tileworks Park and pitches, Uddingston Community Centre, Bothwell Library, The June Stewart Centre, Netherburn Community Hall, TACT Community Hall and Larkhall Community Centre.

Bothwell Library has been protected from closure and Forth Library will be moved from its current location at Forth Primary to the nearby Willie Waddell Sports and Community Centre.

Council leader Joe Fagan has previously defended the services across the area, saying that the number of potential library closures has been reduced and funding has been set aside to protect more from closure.

He has said: “Our Future Libraries Fund, our £1 million Community Fightback Fund and revised savings agreed as part of the council’s budget this year will help us reprovision or relocate more services. The council and SLLC will continue to work with local communities to develop reprovisioning options for their areas and offset the impact of spending cuts further.

Dozens of local groups across the region came forward to say they want to work with the local authority to keep halls open.

That came after the council announced it would launch a £1 million Community Fightback Fund and a Future Libraries Fund to help keep local facilities open.

Councillor Fagan said: “Throughout our extensive budget consultations both the council and SLLC (South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture) were very clear that a combination of a lack of fair funding from government and hugely rising costs meant some very difficult decisions simply could not be avoided. That included SLLC’s plan to rationalise the halls it can afford to operate.

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