Plans for 14 homes at former Carluke Health Centre site

This week Clyde Valley Housing Association applied to the council for planning permission to build 14 new homes on the site of the former Carluke Health Centre on Market Square.

The two bedroom flats will be in two, two-storey blocks, each with their own independent doorway.

Should South Lanarkshire Council give the go-ahead, work on the new buildings should start early in 2016.

The development will occupy what has been an unsightly gap site in the very heart of the town since the old, 1970s-vintage Carluke Health Centre was knocked down to be replaced by the new centre near Rankin Gait.

Speaking about the scheme, Clyde Valley Housing Association’s developments manager John Turnbull told the Gazette: “The scheme has the benefits of addressing a demand for social housing in the area and achieving the Scottish Government’s policy of regenerating traditional town centres.

“The Association, with the Government’s help and that of South Lanarkshire Council, aims to put such policies into action.”

He went on to point out that this was not the first time that the Motherwell-based association had become involved in giving Carluke much-needed affordable housing.

The association has already built new homes on Shieldhill Road and has only just completed another development near the Tesco store on Lanark Road.

He said that the aim was to get the project, costed at £1.6 million, underway as early as possible after the start of the next financial year in the spring of 2016.
Along with the bid for permission to build the new flats, the Association is seeking the council go-ahead to create new car parking for the tenants to the rear of the new building.

There is also to be a communal bin store and boundary walls around the development.

The association now has a housing stock of around 3100 homes throughout Lanarkshire.

That makes it one of the biggest social landlords in the county.

The scheme fits in with a recent Scottish Government call for more accommodation to be built right in the heart of towns.

The aim is to bring some life to traditional high street areas which can often look virtually abandoned after local businesses close for the evening.

Apart from the impression of activity, the new residents can also support local shops and other services in the area.