Lochwinnoch is a town in the council location and also historical county of Renfrewshire in the west main Lowlands of Scotland. Lying on the banks of Castle Semple Loch and also the River Calder, Lochwinnoch is mainly a household dorm room town offering nearby metropolitan centres such as Glasgow and Paisley. Its population in 2001 was 2628. The Town likewise provides its name to a civil parish of some 50 sq mi (130 km2) of the surrounding countryside, including the nearby town of Howwood. The parish borders 7 others: Beith, Kilbarchan, Kilbirnie, Kilmacolm, Largs, Neilston as well as Paisley. Today, Lochwinnoch chiefly serves as a property town, as well as a satellite to the significant city of Glasgow. In 1972, a variety of buildings in the village were brought within a freshly defined Lochwinnoch Conservation Area as a location of special building significance for preparation and environment purposes provided by the neighborhood authority. Lochwinnoch Primary School, the only college in the town, commemorated its centenary in 2005. In 2003 it was the centre of a significant unusual big cat sighting scare. Children were kept inside during break times, and also a police helicopter was brought in to search for the pet.