Airbles

Airbles
One of the shorter high-rise blocks in Airbles, next to Airbles Road.
Airbles is located in North Lanarkshire
Airbles
Airbles
Location within North Lanarkshire
OS grid referenceNS751561
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMOTHERWELL
Postcode districtML1
Dialling code01698
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°46′56″N 3°59′33″W / 55.782148°N 3.992629°W / 55.782148; -3.992629

Airbles is a small suburb to the south-east of Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is mainly a residential area, consisting mostly of a mixture of high-rise and low-rise flats.[2][3][4] The dual carriageway B754, known as Airbles Road, passes through the suburb, connecting eastern parts of Motherwell and nearby places such as Wishaw to the M74 motorway. In future, the dual carriageway may become a link road between the M74 and the M8.[5] A section of the town park (the Duchess of Hamilton park) and Airbles Cemetery are also located in Airbles.

The suburb is served by Airbles railway station, which opened in 1989, offering services to and from Glasgow Central, lying on the Argyle Line. It is the nearest station to Motherwell landmarks such as the Motherwell Civic Centre and Fir Park Stadium. There were plans to close the station, but nearby residents objected, saying it was a vital transport stop for that area of Motherwell.[6]

In 2017, it was reported that North Lanarkshire Council planned to demolish all the towers in its control over the next 20 years (including nine in Airbles) and replace them with modern housing, due to the rising costs of maintenance as the buildings aged, as well as some of the flats being unpopular and underoccupied.[7][8][9][10]

  1. ^ Scots Language Centre: Scottish Place Names in Scots
  2. ^ "Tower Block UK: Central Motherwell Comprehensive Development Area: Phase I". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Tower Block UK: Central Motherwell Comprehensive Development Area: Phase II (Thistle Street)". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Buildings in Motherwell". Emporis. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ "Scottish Government approves council's £73m business plan". North Lanarkshire Council. 19 January 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  6. ^ "Airbles train station safe as Transport Minister confirms station will not close". STV Local. 5 March 2012. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  7. ^ Plans to demolish every North Lanarkshire tower block over next 20 years, Scottish Construction Now, 20 December 2017
  8. ^ All council high-rise flats in North Lanarkshire 'could come down', BBC News, 20 December 2017
  9. ^ Towers among the first to be demolished, Motherwell Times, 30 March 2018
  10. ^ Building You a Better Future - Regeneration Proposals for your area, North Lanarkshire Council, 9 April 2019