Motherwell (district)
Motherwell (Scottish Gaelic: Tobar na Màthar, Scots: Mitherwall) was a local government district in the Strathclyde region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996,[1] lying to the south-east of the regional capital Glasgow.
Motherwell | |
---|---|
Motherwell district within Scotland | |
Population | |
• 1994 | 143,730 |
History | |
• Created | 1975 |
• Abolished | 1996 |
• Succeeded by | (Part of) North Lanarkshire |
Status | District |
Government | Motherwell District Council |
• HQ | Motherwell |
Local Government
As its name suggests, the district (one of five in the Lanark sub-region and 19 overall across the Strathclyde region, which contained more than half of Scotland's population) was centred around the industrial town of Motherwell within the historic county of Lanarkshire, although its boundaries extended some way beyond the town. In the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 leading to its creation, the district's desired composition was described as:[2]
- In the county of Lanark—the burgh of Motherwell and Wishaw; the Sixth district (except the electoral divisions of Bothwell and Uddingston South, Uddingston North), the Seventh district (except the electoral division of Shottskirk).
With the western boundary being the River Clyde and most of the northern boundary formed by the North Calder Water, the district also included the settlements of Bellshill, Chapelhall, Holytown, Newarthill, Newmains and Viewpark, with a rural hinterland centred around the small town of Shotts extending east to the regional border with West Lothian. It had the eighth-largest population of the 53 districts of the era.
The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 abolished all of the districts and regions. The territory was merged with the Monklands and Cumbernauld and Kilsyth districts to form the North Lanarkshire unitary council area, with the Motherwell District Council buildings used as the new NLC headquarters.
References
- Motherwell, Undiscovered Scotland
- "New Local Government areas". Hansard. 22 October 1973. Retrieved 21 February 2020.