East Dunbartonshire (Scots: Aest Dunbartanshire; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatann an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It's located just north of Glasgow, a big city. It shares borders with Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west.

This area includes many nice towns and villages north of Glasgow. Some of these are Bearsden, Milngavie, Bishopbriggs, Kirkintilloch, Lenzie, Twechar, Milton of Campsie, Balmore, and Torrance. Many people who work in Glasgow live in these places. East Dunbartonshire also covers parts of the older areas known as Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, and Stirlingshire.

The council area was created in 1996. It was formed by combining the old areas of Bearsden and Milngavie and most of Strathkelvin. These areas used to be part of a larger region called Strathclyde.

History of East Dunbartonshire
Life in East Dunbartonshire
Local Communities
How East Dunbartonshire is Governed
Council Elections
- Voting Areas (Wards)
Main Towns and Villages
Places to Visit
Education in East Dunbartonshire
Images for kids
See also

History of East Dunbartonshire

East Dunbartonshire was officially formed in 1996. Before this, Scotland had different local government areas called "regions" and "districts." These were changed into new, single "council areas." East Dunbartonshire took over the areas that were once the Bearsden and Milngavie district and most of the Strathkelvin district. Both of these old districts were part of the larger Strathclyde region.

The Bearsden and Milngavie district was created in 1975. It included the towns of Milngavie and Bearsden, plus nearby areas from Dunbartonshire. The Strathkelvin district was also created in 1975. It covered Kirkintilloch and nearby areas from Dunbartonshire. It also included Bishopbriggs and its surrounding areas from Lanarkshire, and two parishes (church areas) called Baldernock and Campsie from Stirlingshire.

Life in East Dunbartonshire

East Dunbartonshire is known as a great place to live. In 2007, a survey by Reader's Digest magazine said it was the best place in Britain to raise a family. The area often scores well in surveys about quality of life. For example, in 2010, it was ranked third best in Scotland. In 2008, it was the only Scottish area to be in the top 20 places in Britain.

A study in 2016 also showed that East Dunbartonshire was the most successful council area in Scotland. It was even ranked as the ninth most successful in the whole United Kingdom.

Local Communities

East Dunbartonshire is divided into thirteen smaller areas called community council areas. Twelve of these areas have their own community councils, which help local people have a say in what happens in their neighbourhood.

Baldernock*
Bearsden East*
Bearsden North*
Bearsden West*
Bishopbriggs*
Campsie*
Kirkintilloch*
Lenzie*
Milngavie*
Milton of Campsie*
Torrance*
Twechar
Waterside*

How East Dunbartonshire is Governed

East Dunbartonshire

Leadership
Provost	Gillian Renwick, SNP Since 19 May 2022
Leader	Gordan Low, SNP Since 19 May 2022
Chief Executive	Gerry Cornes Since January 2009
Structure
Seats	22 councillors

Political groups	Administration (8) SNP (8) Other parties(14) Liberal Democrats (5) Labour (4) Conservatives (2) Independents (3)
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place

12 Strathkelvin Place, Kirkintilloch, G66 1XT

The East Dunbartonshire Council is in charge of running the area. It makes decisions about local services like schools, roads, and parks. The council has a leader and a Provost.

Council Leaders

The first leader of East Dunbartonshire Council was Charles Kennedy. He had also been the last leader of the old Strathkelvin District Council. Here are the people who have led the East Dunbartonshire Council since 1996:

Councillor		From	To
Charles Kennedy	Labour	1 Apr 1996	Oct 1999
Keith Moody	Liberal Democrats	Oct 1999	May 2003
John Morrison	Liberal Democrats	8 May 2003	3 May 2007
Rhondda Geekie	Labour	17 May 2007	4 May 2017
Gordan Low	SNP	23 May 2017	21 Dec 2017
Vaughan Moody	Liberal Democrats	20 Mar 2018	May 2022	Co-leaders
Andrew Polson	Conservative	20 Mar 2018	May 2022
Gordan Low	SNP	19 May 2022

Council Members

After the election in 2022, the council is made up of different political parties. Here's how many councillors each party has as of July 2023:

Party		Councillors
	SNP	8
	Liberal Democrats	5
	Labour	4
	Conservative	2
	Independent	3
Total		22

The next election for the council is planned for 2027.

Council Building

Since 2012, the council's main office has been at 12 Strathkelvin Place in Kirkintilloch. This building is part of the Southbank Marina area, right next to the Forth and Clyde Canal. Before 2012, the council was based at Tom Johnston House in Kirkintilloch. That building was named after Tom Johnston, a famous politician who was born in Kirkintilloch. Tom Johnston House was taken down in 2015. The new council meeting room at Strathkelvin Place is now called the Tom Johnston Chamber.

Council Elections

Since 2007, elections for the council have happened every five years. They use a special voting system called "single transferable vote." This system helps make sure that different groups are fairly represented. Here are the results from past elections:

Year	Seats	SNP	Liberal Democrats	Labour	Conservative	Independent / Other
Year	Seats
1995	26	0	9	15	2	0
1999	24	1	10	10	3	0
2003	24	0	12	9	3	0
2007	24	8	3	6	5	2
2012	24	8	3	8	2	3
2017	22	7	6	2	6	1
2022	22	8	6	4	3	1

Voting Areas (Wards)

Map of the area's wards (2017 configuration)

Since 2007, East Dunbartonshire has been divided into "wards" for elections. Each ward elects three councillors using the single transferable vote system. In 2017, the number of wards was changed to seven, and the number of councillors was reduced to 22. These are the current wards:

#	Ward Name	Seats	Population (2020)
1	Milngavie	3	13,572
2	Bearsden North	3	14,943
3	Bearsden South	3	13,318
4	Bishopbriggs North and Campsie	4	19,323
5	Bishopbriggs South	3	15,868
6	Kirkintilloch East and North and Twechar	3	18,251
7	Lenzie and Kirkintilloch South	3	13,475

Main Towns and Villages

Here are the largest towns and villages in East Dunbartonshire, listed by how many people live there:

Settlement	Population (2020)
Bearsden	28470
Bishopbriggs	23680
Kirkintilloch	21870
Milngavie	12840
Lenzie	8090
Lennoxtown	4260
Milton of Campsie	3910
Torrance	2320
Twechar	1340

Places to Visit

East Dunbartonshire has many interesting places to visit, including:

Campsie Fells
West Highland Way (a long walking path)
Forth and Clyde Canal
Antonine Wall (an ancient Roman wall)
Mugdock Country Park
Milngavie water treatment works
River Kelvin
Lillie Art Gallery
Auld Kirk Museum
Huntershill Village
The Fort Theatre
The Turret Theatre
The Gadloch

Education in East Dunbartonshire

The area has a good education system. There are 8 secondary schools and 33 primary schools. The secondary schools are:

Bearsden Academy, Bearsden
Bishopbriggs Academy, Bishopbriggs
Boclair Academy, Bearsden
Douglas Academy, Milngavie
Kirkintilloch High School, Kirkintilloch
Lenzie Academy, Lenzie
St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch
Turnbull High School, Bishopbriggs

Images for kids

Huntershill Village
Thomas Muir
Thomas Muir Cairn - Erected by John SL Watson and unveiled by East Dunbartonshire's Provost John Dempsey (1997)
Scottish Political Martyrs Gate - Erected by John SL Watson and unveiled by East Dunbartonshire's Provost John Dempsey (1997)
Miners of the world memorial hutch - created by John SL Watson and unveiled by leader of East Dunbartsonshire Council John Morrison (2003)
Finger Post marking the Old Glasgow-Stirling postal road
Huntershill Village Mile Stone
Southwest view across Gadloch Towards the distant Red Road Flats.