What trust has been involved in a community energy project?
Long existing as a rural settlement, Neilston's economy was historically driven by farming, although a trade in handloom woven garments from the village's cottage industry also existed from very early times. Grain mills and watermills were operating in Neilston by 1667.Due to its supply of hydropower from the River Levern, Neilston, like neighbouring Barrhead, developed factories and cotton mills after the arrival of the Industrial Revolution. Neilston fostered a flourishing textile processing industry. At the peak of business, the River Levern was lined with bleachfields, cotton mills and calico printfields. Passing through the ownership of a series of successful companies, Crofthead Mill was once the biggest producer of spun cotton in Renfrewshire. Thread from Crofthead, and thus Neilston, was traded across the world. It is claimed that thread from Crofthead Mill held together the boots of the climbing team led by Chris Bonington on the British Everest Expedition in 1975.Neilston Agricultural Show is a cattle show, sheepdog trial and sports and arts festival held near the village on the first Saturday of every May with a tradition beginning in the early 19th century. It began as a result of a dispute between two farmers from the village. Each farmer had a prized bull that he said was better than the other's. In a bid to settle the argument, the farmers arranged a contest that would be judged by the other farmers in the area. It is not documented who had the better bull, but the contest grew into an annual event that has become a local custom which is celebrated each year at the end of the show with the burning of a 50ft tall wickerman.Although agriculture continues to a limited extent on the village's outskirts, Neilston's textile processing industry has diminished. Since deindustrialisation, Neilston is a commuter village with significant numbers of its inhabitants travelling to the major urban centres of Glasgow, Paisley and Barrhead for work. The village has retained a selection of amenities from local shops for local people, leisure facilities, and schooling however. The Barrhead News, a local newspaper published by Clyde and Forth Press, reports on Neilston, Barrhead, Nitshill and Darnley.
In 2005 the Clydesdale Bank closed its branch at Neilston, leaving it without a bank. In 2006 Neilston Development Trust utilised the Land Reform Act to purchase the bank building for community usage with the aid of a grant of £210,000 from the Big Lottery Fund. This was the first time this legislation had been successfully used in an urban area. The premises are used as a community café, a service information point, office space and meeting rooms. The trust has been involved in a community energy project, the Neilston Community Wind Farm, which installed four turbines with a capacity of 10MW in 2013.
Neilston Development Trust