A notice from the Glasgow Herald of 28 July 1820 describes the "Farm of Newlands and Merrylee" with 124 acres (50 hectares) available to let.

The film illustrated the continued problems of overcrowding and poverty in the inner city and recorded the protests calling for more new houses.

The film shows scenes of rundown housing, children playing on the streets, shipyard workers on the Clyde, as well as a dramatised road accident, and protest marches.

Developments during the early part of the 21st century include recladding the exterior of the buildings owned by the local housing association, and the construction of a school campus on the municipal football pitches – this is Merrylee Primary[2][3] (with integrated Lime Tree Nursery pre-school facility),[4] while Our Lady of the Annunciation RC Primary is located directly to the south, both on Friarton Road.

Another development was the construction of luxury flats on the site of the former Newlands Lawn Tennis Club car park.