Whitlawburn

Whitlawburn is a residential area in the town of Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located south of the town centre on high ground overlooking the Greater Glasgow urban area.

Whitlawburn

Whitlawburn towers viewed from the south-west
Whitlawburn
Whitlawburn
Location within Scotland
Whitlawburn
Whitlawburn (Scotland)
Population3,500 
OS grid referenceNS61815941
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townGLASGOW
Postcode districtG72 8
Dialling code0141
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament

Location and housing

The majority of the housing is a local authority 'scheme' constructed in the late 1960s and early 1970s to alleviate housing shortages in the area.[1] The territory was previously farmland including the Whitlawburn farm, which itself took its name from the Whitlaw Burn stream which runs down from the Cathkin Braes at the western side of the district.

Pedestrian underpass between Springhall and Whitlawburn

A dual carriageway which is part of the A749 road running from East Kilbride to Glasgow carries a local bus route, and also separates Whitlawburn from the neighbouring areas of Springhall and Cathkin to the west which are part of the town of Rutherglen - however most local amenities are shared between the three districts. An underpass runs under the road between Springhall and Whitlawburn. To the east, a sprawling network of housing developments at Greenlees spreads out over fields towards Halfway. There is also an entrance to Cambuslang Public Park.

Bute Tower, one of six multi-storey blocks in the area

The Whitlawburn area itself is dominated visually by six near-identical 13-storey tower blocks (named Arran, Ailsa, Benmore, Bute, Kintore and Roslin and containing 432 apartments)[2][3][4] on the south side of the main road through the district, with modern tenements arranged in a grid pattern to either side, along with a local retail area (Nisa, Greggs, William Hill, soft play area, etc.).[5] Built using the Reema method of construction and originally uniformly grey concrete and brutalist in appearance, the area was regenerated from the 1990s onwards with the tenement buildings painted/rendered in brighter colours and given pitched roofs (they had originally been flat-roofed despite the frequently wet conditions in the west of Scotland) and the tower blocks fitted with cladding, roofs and ambient lighting in a £21m project.[6][7]

The towers have the same design as five others nearby (Springhall, Halfway, central Cambuslang),[8] but they now look quite different from their 'cousins' as a result of the refurbishment. In 1989, West Whitlawburn Housing Co-operative Ltd was established by residents who were unhappy with deteriorating housing conditions and out of a sense of unfairness at the tenements being prioritised.[9] The organisation also put in place an extensive CCTV and concierge system.[10]

Lorne Terrace tenements in East Whitlawburn

In 2016, plans which had been in proposed some years earlier[11] were approved to further improve the area by replacing the less popular flats in the eastern part of the scheme with new houses;[12] this followed confirmation that parts of the district were among the most deprived communities in the country according to the 2016 Scottish index of multiple deprivation.[13][14] When the East Whitlawburn Tenants Management Cooperative handed their managed properties back to council control in 2013, the datazone was in the bottom 0.5% in Scotland for deprivation.[11] By 2019, demolition of some blocks was in progress and local construction firm CCG had drawn up plans for the replacement homes, with a planned completion date of 2021.[15]

Field to the south of the neighbourhood (2012) which has since been converted into a housing development

The local community centre[16] featuring a 5-a-side football pitch is situated to the south of the towers, as are two small 21st century housing zones: a development of large private residences with a separate vehicle entrance off the bypass road, known as Lomond View, and a group of 100 modest houses built by West Whitlawburn Housing Cooperative accessed from the main road.[17] These properties back onto farmland and a golf course (Kirkhill Golf Club) which are part of the green belt at the edge of the Glasgow urban area. However, in 2016 a planning application by Persimmon for 240 new houses in a vacant field (accessed via the road passing the golf club) was approved for construction,[18] despite some concerns regarding possible flooding and school provision.[19][20] With the development nearing completion in late 2019, residents were surprised to find that their streets were still within the boundaries of the East Kilbride constituency for the 2019 United Kingdom general election, as had been the case before its construction when the land was a field and therefore of little consequence in that context.[21]

cottage flats off Western Road

On the north side of the road is a system of terraced houses and cottage flats with common parking areas, as well as the local public house,[22] the new buildings of Cathkin High School, a further group of small houses built on the school's previous site (Cathkin Rise by Barratt),[23][24][25] and Holmhills Park which leads to the Kirkhill residential area to the north. Coats Park, the ground of Cambuslang Rugby Club, is also nearby.

Amenities

Administratively Whitlawburn lies within the Cambuslang West ward of the South Lanarkshire Council area which is also the extent of the neighbourhood community policing zone.[26][27] The nearest train stations are Burnside and Kirkhill which are both approximately 1 mile from the western end of the district.

the new Cathkin High School is situated to the north of Whitlawburn; the original was on the main road within the neighbourhood

The closest schools for younger children are Loch Primary and St Anthony's RC Primary (both in Springhall – the schools are built on adjacent sites, a common occurrence in Scotland, and nowadays share a playground)[28][29] and West Coats Primary (Kirkhill). However children living in the new Persimmon development will attend Cairns Primary in Halfway. For older children, nondenominational Cathkin High School (which also houses a nursery[30] and a special school, Rutherglen High)[31] is on the doorstep of Whitlawburn, but Catholic students have to make their way to Eastfield to attend Trinity High.

Notable residents

References
  1. "Hand-over of part of new Cambuslang". Glasgow Herald. 17 November 1970. p. 8. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  2. "Cambuslang and Rutherglen housing chiefs act over Grenfell Tower fire fears". Daily Record/Rutherglen Reformer. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  3. "Tower Block UK: Whitlawburn, Cambuslang". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  4. "Buildings in Glasgow: Whitlawburn". Emporis. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  5. "Home". Kids Complex. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  6. West Whitlawburn Multi-Storey Flats Overcladding, RIAS
  7. West Whitlawburn Tower Blocks, D+B Facades
  8. The Story of Rosebank Tower, Tower Blocks UK, 16 September 2019
  9. Lesley Riddoch: The epidemic hospitals can't cure, The Scotsman, 2011
  10. "About Us: Background: History". West Whitlawburn Housing Co-operative Ltd. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  11. East Whitlawburn set for major regeneration, Daily Record, 11 September 2013
  12. Whitlawburn set for £44m housing boost, Daily Record, 2016
  13. Deprivation on our doorstep: Rutherglen and Cambuslang still struggling despite jobs boom, Daily Record, 2016
  14. Rutherglen and Cambuslang communities at top of list of most deprived areas in Scotland, Daily Record, 2016
  15. Cambuslang masterplan moves ahead with 330 new homes, Urban Realm, 28 March 2019
  16. "Home". Whitlawburn Community Resource Centre. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  17. West Whitlawburn new homes, John Gilbert architects
  18. Greenlees, Persimmon Homes
  19. Cambuslang housing plan is given the go-ahead by councillors, Daily Record, 2016
  20. Parent Council at Cambuslang school furious at plans to increase catchment zone, Daily Record, 2016
  21. Cambuslang voters left bemused ahead of General Election - as they will be choosing East Kilbride's MP in boundary mix-up, Daily Record, 11 December 2019
  22. "Welcome to The Lawburn Inn, Cambuslang's Number One Pub". The Lawburn Inn. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  23. "Barratt homes in on £185m deal to build at school sites". The Scotsman. 3 July 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  24. Smith, Kenny (30 October 2009). "Demolition underway at old Cathkin High School". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  25. Dickie, Douglas (10 October 2012). "Housing developer given warning for dumping at Rutherglen site". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  26. "Ward map 13 - Cambuslang West" (PDF). South Lanarkshire Council. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  27. "Cambuslang West". Police Service of Scotland. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  28. Faith barriers broken down as pupils share school playground, The Herald, 22 September 2013
  29. Rutherglen schools handed anti-sectarian honour, Daily Record, 11 September 2013
  30. "About Us". Cathkin Community Nursery. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  31. "About our School". Rutherglen High School. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  32. "Darren Young's a City slicker after getting fan mail from Manchester". Daily Record/Rutherglen Reformer. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  33. "Derek Young's spell in Iceland was a real eye-opener after their success at Euro 2016". Daily Record/Rutherglen Reformer. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.

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