A former primary school in Airdrie is the first village site to be earmarked for possible development under North Lanarkshire Council’s Villages Project.

The project, which includes small scale developments within village areas to meet local need, forms part of the local authority’s NL Homes house building programme which will see 2,150 new council homes built by 2027.

Proposals would see the creation of new affordable homes being built on the old Plains Primary School site.

Paying a visit to the site were leader of North Lanarkshire Council, Councillor Jim Logue, and housing convener, Councillor Barry McCulloch.

“The Villages project is another exciting chapter in our NL Homes, new house building programme,” said Councillor Logue.

“It will be great to see the old school site brought back into use to help meet local housing needs in the area.”

The council is considering a number of future sites including, potentially some that are not currently within its ownership. Further feasibility and ground investigation work will be undertaken at Plains, as well as us continuing to explore further sites.

The new council house building programme was expanded in August and will see 2,150 homes being built across North Lanarkshire over the next decade. More than 380 of these homes have already been completed with many more in the planning and development phases.

Councillor McCulloch added: “I’m pleased with the excellent progress being made under our NL Homes, new council house building programme, and I’m also pleased to see other aspects of the project coming to fruition.

“New homes mean new starts and new opportunities not just for local people but for this part of Plains too. I’m confident we’ll continue to deliver first-class, affordable homes to improve lives and communities.”

The councillors also paid to a visit to Cairnhill to view plans for new build council homes on the site of the former Alexandra Primary School.

The visit provided the opportunity to see first-hand the plans for the fourteen new two- bedroom cottage flats. The proposals have recently received planning permission and Robertson Partnership Homes have been appointed to build the new homes along with a new park and ride car park to improve parking in the area.

The next phase of the programme will also see work starting shortly on five other sites:

Work is due to start on all these sites over the coming months. This will bring the total number of homes that have been completed, are under construction or about to start on site to 682, while sites have been identified for a further 476 new homes.

“It’s great to be able to come out on site and envisage how our fantastic new houses will look,” explained Councillor Logue. “I’m delighted with the excellent progress we’ve made on delivering new, affordable council homes across the area.

“We’re continuing to invest in new housing and are committed to delivering our ambitious plans for over 2,000 new council homes – one of the biggest council house building programmes in a generation. I’m very proud of our achievements to date and confident we can continue to deliver on our pledge to benefit North Lanarkshire’s residents and its local communities.”

A contribution is received from the Scottish Government towards the development costs at each site.