Paisley’s visitors now have new signs to help them get around – and Renfrewshire Council Leader reckons they are pointing the way to a better future for the town.

The black finger-post-style signs have gone up around the town centre in recent weeks, showing the direction to key buildings and tourist sites.

The traditional-looking signs can be seen outside busy locations such as Gilmour Street station, the Abbey and Town Hall, and the University of the West of Scotland.

And Councillor Mark Macmillan reckons they mark just a small step along the road to some much bigger plans designed to attract tourists to the town.

He said: “Earlier this year, the council unveiled ambitious proposals to transform the area’s future by using culture and heritage to sell Paisley as a destination.

“There will be various strands to that – but one of the key ones is in creating a better product for visitors, and improving our tourist infrastructure.

“New town centre signage represents a very small step along what will be a very long road over the next decade or so.

“But it is the sort of practical everyday improvement we want to put in place while detailed work takes place in the background to investigate how the major infrastructure projects could take shape.

“These would include turning Paisley Museum into a national museum of textile and costume, the creation of a Paisley Fashion and Design Centre, and a new 300-seat theatre space in the town.

“Along the way we would also look to ramp up the existing programme of town centre events and festivals, ahead of a possible bid for UK City of Culture status in 2021.

“We are also working to develop our Discover Renfrewshire campaign, which may already be familiar to residents through signage around the area.

“Experts reckon that if the plans were carried out in full they would create 800 jobs and be worth £45m a year to Renfrewshire’s tourist economy.

“All of the above would involve the input of the entire local community, and the benefits would extend to all of Renfrewshire, not just Paisley.

“So just like our new signs, we know which direction we are going in – and that should be a brighter future for the whole area.”

Author

Founder of Paisley.org.uk in 1998 and constantly strives to change peoples attitudes to the town, Brian is a self described Paisley Digital Champion who promotes Paisley via any means necessary. You can also follow me on X