The estate was originally developed at the end of the 1960s by Lanark County Council as one of Glasgow's many new peripheral estates. Construction of the six present-day tower blocks was completed in 1970 with a total of 432 flats. The 13-storey pre-fabricated concrete towers blocks were built by Reema Scotland at a total cost of £1.25m.[4][5] The newly built estate also included a number of low-rise blocks of flats.[6][7]
As with many post-war tower blocks the development was initially lauded, with the developers extolling the aesthetics of the towers, the internal features, and the communal laundry.[5]
However, by the 1980s tenants were dissatisfied with the management and upkeep of the properties by the Council alongside issues of crime and drug abuse.[8] Frustrated by the perceived inaction of the council, in 1989 tenants formed a housing co-operative and through the stock transfer process took on the ownership and management of the estate.[8]
In 1996 the co-operative established a community centre on the estate. In 2005 the co-operative became a fully mutual co-operative and a registered charity.[8] As a registered social housing provider the co-operative is regulated by the Scottish Housing Regulator.
In 2008 the co-operative established Whitcomm Co-operative a separate consumer co-operative to provide fibre-optic broadband connections to members of the housing co-operative on a not-for-profit basis. As a consumer co-operative Whitcomm is similarly owned and governed by its customers.[9][10][11][12]
In addition to the original blocks of flats the co-operative has also built an additional 100 low-rise flats on the estate.[8]
To try and address concerns about fuel poverty the co-operative installed a district heating system using a 740 kW woodchip biomass boiler to provide hot water and heating to the properties.[13]