LEGENDARY Kilbarchan piper Habbie Simpson could be remembered in a special plaque at the place where he is buried.
Permission has been sought to mount a small circular sign on the front of one of the stone pillars at the gate of the graveyard at Kilbarchan West Parish Church.
The commemorative plaque would read: “Habbie Simpson (1550-1620) legendary piper of Kilbarchan is buried in this graveyard”.
Those who live in the village are informally known as Habbies to this day, in a nod to the piper.
He is also remembered at Kilbarchan Steeple, which has an exterior niche containing a statue of Simpson.
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Plans to transform Kilbarchan West Parish Church into 17 flats were given approval at the recent Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Board.
In a report to the board, Fraser Carlin, head of planning and housing at Renfrewshire Council, said housing was the best use for the church building.
It closed in December 2015 because of dwindling numbers, as the congregation decided to unite with Kilbarchan East Church and form Kilbarchan Parish Church.
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Mr Carlin said in his report: “External alterations have been kept to a minimum and significant efforts have been made to enhance the building through its conversion to residential use.
“It is accepted that it is unlikely that a use other than housing is likely to be viable in this location.
“The size and layout of the church make it difficult to convert into flats in a way that would preserve all of the special interest of the interior.
“Historic Environment Scotland is supportive of the proposals and consider them to be generally sympathetic to the building.
“It notes that the church occupies a prominent position in the heart of Kilbarchan and, if it were to fall into dereliction, it is likely to cause considerable blight.”
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The developers were also given permission to convert the church hall into a dwellinghouse.
But Mr Carlin confirmed the graveyard will remain in public ownership.
He said in his report: “A main consideration of the proposal is that the graveyard remains in public ownership and access to the grounds will remain.
“The graveyard does not form part of the application site.”
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