Renfrewshire

Present day Renfrewshire borders the south-west of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. Renfrewshire borders North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire. Despite its name, the local council and its executive offices are based in Paisley rather the town of Renfrew which it also incorporates. Although geographically one of Scotland's smallest unitary authorities (outside the cities), it is one of the country's most populous areas, being the fifth largest unitary authority and the ninth largest including the city authorities.

The ancient county of Renfrewshire covered a larger area — including both Inverclyde and East Renfrewshire. This area still exists in the form of a lieutenancy area and registration county, and has a statutory funding board called the Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board. The county was traditionally based around its seat, the Royal Burgh of Renfrew and as such was also known as the County of Renfrew.

There was also a district named Renfrew which existed between 1975 and 1996. Renfrew District covered a slightly larger area than the present local authority area, and included the towns of Barrhead, Neilston and Uplawmoor, which, following the partition of Strathclyde region in 1996, were transferred into the new East Renfrewshire unitary local authority.

[edit] Composition of the council

As of the May 2007 local council election, the composition of the council is:

	Party	Councillors
	Labour	17
	Scottish National Party	17
	Liberal Democrat	4
	Conservative	2

The Council is administered by a Scottish National Party/Liberal Democrat coalition.

[edit] Electoral wards

The wards used for elections to Renfrewshire Council are assigned a number of councillors to be selected by the Single Transferable Vote system since the coming into effect of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. These wards, as defined in the Renfrewshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2006 (SSI 2006/551)^[1] are as follows:

Ward 1 - Renfrew North (3 councillors)
Ward 2 - Renfrew South & Gallowhill (3 councillors)
Ward 3 - Paisley East & Ralston (4 councillors)
Ward 4 - Paisley North West (4 councillors)
Ward 5 - Paisley South (4 councillors)
Ward 6 - Paisley South West (4 councillors)
Ward 7 - Johnstone South, Elderslie & Howwood (4 councillors)
Ward 8 - Johnstone North, Kilbarchan & Lochwinnoch (3 councillors)
Ward 9 - Houston, Crosslee & Linwood (4 councillors)
Ward 10 - Bishopton, Bridge of Weir & Langbank (3 councillors)
Ward 11 - Erskine & Inchinnan (4 councillors)

[edit] Transport

Renfrewshire is home to Scotland's busiest airport, Glasgow International Airport, at Abbotsinch between Paisley and Renfrew. It is served by the M8 motorway, which terminates in the area, just east of Langbank, and is a major artery between northwest and southwest Scotland, via the Erskine Bridge. The presence of the airport and the proximity to Glasgow means that Renfrewshire supports one of the busiest transport infrastructures in Scotland, and is frequently congested. Developments to ease traffic flow have included a lifting of tolls on the Erskine Bridge, plans to extend the rail network to connect to the airport, and the M74 extension — which will handle traffic from Renfrewshire heading south, diverting it away from Glasgow city centre.[1]

[edit] Places of interest and events

Places of interest include the historic Castle Semple Loch at Lochwinnoch which is part of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, Coats Observatory in Paisley, the Erskine Bridge, the country park at Gleniffer Braes, south of Paisley, Love Street, Paisley (home of St. Mirren FC), Muirshiel Country Park, Paisley Abbey and the Weaver's Cottage at Kilbarchan, in the care of the National Trust for Scotland.

The Renfrewshire Music Festival, latterly the Inverclyde and Renfrew Music Festival is an annual music and dance event, similar in format to the Gaelic mod (but in English). Held in Greenock, many of the schools and choirs in the former county of Renfrew compete.