Cowan Park

Cowan Park is the largest park in Barrhead. It’s used as a recreation space and is the key football facility in the town. The Park is very much aimed at the Community and their use of recreational and green spaces. One of the most visited and important elements is the Children's Play area, which is very well utilised by residents and visitors alike.

The park is a cherished green space in East Renfrewshire, featuring original Edwardian elements such as the formal gardens. It has a rich history dating back to the early 20th Century when it was officially opened on 22 June 1911, to coincide with the coronation of King George V.
There has been considerable investment over recent years. In 2022/23, we asked the local community what improvements they wanted to see, and, following this, we’ve spent £160,000 in improvements, with upgrades including benches, bins, the flagpole, resurfacing paths and new signage. The tennis courts and bandstand were also given full refurbishments in 2024.
Over and above this, our key project within the park was bringing the historic Gate Lodge back into community use; transforming it into a vibrant community and enterprise hub. The Social Blend café, which aims to provide training and employment for people of all abilities, and the enterprise hub was opened by Include Me 2 Club in 2023, incorporating a café, bike hub, meeting space and public toilets.
The Council will ensure that the park is maintained and improved and that this Barrhead asset is also an environmentally friendly green space, with standards that can be sustained both for today's visitors and those in future years.
Barrhead’s Cowan Park is a much valued community asset and we’re confident it deserves Green Flag status.