Concerns have been raised about footfall at Johnstone Town Hall – with the state-of-the-art facility likened to a “ghost town” at times.

Councillor Iain McMillan, a Labour representative for the town, raised the issue of programming at the space and claimed it is often “very quiet”.

The politician suggested more events are needed at the hall as he discussed a wider performance update from OneRen, the trust responsible for leisure and culture in Renfrewshire, at Wednesday’s leadership board.

The progress report said total OneRen customer engagements, including digital, increased from 2.9 million in 2021/22 to 3.9 million in the last financial year – with in-person attendances rising from one million to just over 1.56 million visits over the same period.

Councillor McMillan said he was delighted to see such figures and added there was “a lot of good news” in the paper.

However, he singled out Johnstone Town Hall as an area for improvement, saying he had “deep concerns” about how quiet it is.

The Johnstone South and Elderslie member said: “I’ve been lucky enough to attend a few events in the last couple of months in some of our facilities.

“I was at the opening of the Mòd in Paisley Town Hall which I thought was absolutely marvellous. The town hall looks absolutely fantastic. It takes your breath away when you enter not only the main room but all the side rooms.

“I was also at the Scots Language Awards a couple of months ago in Johnstone and it was great to see Johnstone Town Hall so busy and so many people there, not only just going to the town hall but going outwith the town hall, going to the various restaurants and pubs in the area as well.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that having these cultural events has a knock-on effect on our town and village centres as well.

“Of course, there are a couple of negatives…I have deep concerns about Johnstone Town Hall and how quiet it is.

“I know there’s a pantomime on at the moment and I was there last week, not at the pantomime, at another pantomime called the local partnership meeting.

“Again, it was great to see the place busy but very often you go into Johnstone Town Hall and it’s very, very quiet.

“I know we can’t have events there all the time but it’s almost like a ghost town at times, the Johnstone Town Hall.

“I think we need to do some more in Johnstone Town Hall.”

Council leader Iain Nicolson, an SNP representative for Erskine and Inchinnan, responded: “I’m taking it as observations with regards to the contents of the report.

“The programme of the town hall is something that local members should really take up directly with OneRen with regards to delivering that programme.

“I take on board your positive points about cultural programmes in Paisley and other places as well.”