South Lanarkshire Council is to spend £1 million upgrading multi-use games areas (MUGAs) across the area over the next six months, with 20 sites set to be refurbished between September 2026 and February 2027.
The works, most of them within school grounds, aim to improve opportunities for sport and play while tackling maintenance problems linked to ageing surfaces. A report going before the council’s community and enterprise resources committee on September 1 confirms that a survey of the council’s MUGA estate has been carried out, design work is complete, and the projects are now being procured.
Sites earmarked for upgrade
The MUGAs earmarked for upgrade are at: Halfmerke/West Mains Primary School, East Kilbride; Park View, Cambuslang; James Aiton Primary School, Cambuslang; St Leonard's Primary School, East Kilbride; Hunter Primary School, East Kilbride; Auchinraith Primary School, Blantyre; David Livingstone Memorial Primary School, Blantyre; Maxwelton/Greenburn Primary School, East Kilbride; Bankhead Primary School, Rutherglen; Muiredge Primary School, Uddingston; Lanark Primary School, Lanark; Robert Smillie Primary School, Lanark; Dalserf Primary School, Ashgill; Kirkton Primary School, Carluke; St Peters Primary School, Hamilton; Forth Primary School, Forth; Biggar Primary School, Biggar; Braidwood Primary School, Braidwood; Libberton Primary School, Quothquan; and Machanhill Primary School, Larkhall.
Work is expected to start at the end of September 2026 and finish by late February 2027. Two further pitches, at Hareleeshill Primary School in Larkhall and St Vincent’s Primary School in East Kilbride, are being refurbished separately through lifecycle funding, with those works due to run from October to December 2026.
Part of wider investment
The MUGA upgrades form part of a wider £4 million outdoor and recreational investment agreed in the council’s 2026/27 budget in February. The report describes the funding as “a significant and welcome level of investment for our communities.”
Alongside the MUGA works, £2 million has been set aside for community assets such as former tennis courts, five-a-side pitches and park features, plus general improvements like paths and lighting. Restoration of the fire-damaged Overtoun Park Bandstand in Rutherglen, costing £442,000 in total, is under way and due to finish in October, while a contractor has been appointed for the £190,000 restoration of Bothwell Road Park Bandstand in Hamilton.
Other proposed projects include a £350,000 replacement footbridge at Greenhall in Blantyre and a £150,000 roof upgrade at Chatelherault Cafe in Hamilton.
Community spaces and next steps
A further £1 million is allocated to bringing underused spaces back into community use. Eddlewood Football Club in Hamilton and Larkhall Thistle Football Club had bids for Scottish Football Association funding rejected, but the report says both remain on a reserve list, with fresh applications planned for 2027/28 if reserve funding does not come through.
Other projects include a feasibility study on upgrading the Peter Brownlie pitches in Cambuslang and a Changing Places toilet feasibility study at Craighead Park in Lesmahagow. The report states: “The intention to bring unused or underutilised spaces back into community use has the potential to revitalise neighbourhoods, unlock local volunteering and community involvement.”
Councillors are being asked to approve the funding allocations and for a £140,000 contingency fund to be set up for smaller projects as they arise.
