Johnstone Castle
From UK Housing Wiki
Johnstone Castle is a housing scheme in the town of Johnstone, Renfrewshire. It is home to around 5000 people - making it the largest of Johnstone's housing estates - and comprises of three and four storey tenements; terraced and semi detached houses; cottage flats; maisonettes; bungalows; and 2 storey blocks of flats. It is bordered by the Beith Road to the north, the village of Elderslie to the east, [[Cochrane Castle to the west and the Bluebell Woods to the south. In April 2007, Labour politicians -Prime Minister Tony Blair and First Minister for Scotland, Jack McConnell - made Johnstone Castle a destination on their campaign trail in the run up to the May General Election. The scheme is served by Arriva buses that link the estate to the Town Centre, Braehead Shopping centre in Renfrew, Linwood, Paisley and Glasgow.
The scheme was built between 1959 and 1962 on the grounds of the demolished Johnstone Castle, where the Laird of Johnstone used to live until the family died out in 1939. All that is left of the old castle is Locheed Tower in Tower Place which dates back to the 15th century. The estate was council-built primarily to accomodate 'Overspill' from Glasgow's slums, primarily Gorbals, although some locals also moved to the new estate.
The first resident moved into a semi detached home at 1 Yew Place in July 1959. Most of the estate's Avenues and Drives are named after trees e.g. Elm Drive, Hazel Avenue, Cherry Place etc with the exception of Tower Road, Tower Place and Heather Place. The estate numerous trees in it that predate the estate and are protected by law. This has caused problems in the past for people and companies wishing to recive planning permission. The scheme is surrounded by woodland - the Rannoch Woods to the west, the Bluebell Woods to the south and the east.
Local amenities on the estate included a community centre and a housing office at Pine Crescent, two rows of shops at Hazel Avenue and Sycamore Avenue, Auchenlodment Primary School at Aspen Place, two churches at Tower Road and Elm Drive, The Hazel Arms pub at Hazel Avenue and two parks at Elm Drive and one at Poplar Avenue.
Over time, as with many council estates, the scheme became run down. Rows of flats became derelict and anti social behaviour is the norm. This contributed to Johnstone Castle's bad reputation in the town that it still has to this day.
At the turn of the century, regeneration begun with streets of tenements being demolished at Willow Drive and Holly Place. The parks also recieved much needed funding with new playgrounds and 5-a-side pitches built. The five 5 storey maisonette blocks at Maple Drive were demolished in 2005. In 2007, private housing is being built on the waste grounds of Willow Drive consisting of affordable 2 and 3 bedroom terraced housing built by O'Brien. Renfrewshire Council often involves the local children in activities like 5-a-side football and provides a warden service to limit anti social behaviour by youths. Depsite these steps to improve living conditions in the area, 42% of residents smoke -the highest number in the town and unemployment is above the national average according to figures from 2002. The scheme falls into the top 15% of deprived areas in Scotland according to a study undertaken in 2005.
[edit] links
- Wikimapia provides an aerial view of Johnstone Castle:[1]
- The story of the original castle: [2]
- Contact details for the Neighbourhood office:
- Community Centre website:
