Motherwell Strathclyde Park previously hosted the major Scottish music festival, T in the Park, until 1996, when it was moved to a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire. It has also hosted other music festivals such as Retrofest. Modern authors Des McAnulty and Mark Wilson have written novels of critical acclaim which are based in the town (LIFE IS LOCAL, McAnulty) and neighbouring town Bellshill (BOBBY'S BOY, Wilson). Motherwell is the headquarters for both North Lanarkshire Council, which is one of Scotland's most populous local authority areas, and of Police Scotland "Q" division. These organisations cover an overall population of 327,000 people
Opera in Scotland a lack of political will to start implementing it. The site in Castle Terrace was eventually leased for office development in 1988. Subsequently Festival opera has found its home in large traditional Edinburgh venues, renovated in turn to bring them up to modern standards. For some years in the 1980s it was the Playhouse with its impressive official capacity of 2900. Since 1994 the Festival Theatre (formerly The Empire) has been used both for the Festival and by Scottish Opera on their visits to Edinburgh. Elsewhere in Scotland, operas are also staged in a wide range of multipurpose theatres/performance spaces