MILLIONS of viewers will see Cumber-nauld Shopping Centre named as Britain's worst building when the Channel 4 series Demolition is broadcast on a peak Saturday night slot - after polling the lion's share of 10,000 votes.
In a move which has been greeted with fury by local politicians, the centre topped the list of a dozen hated structures throughout Britain - just weeks after the centre landed Cumbernauld with the Carbuncle Award for the second time.
The show subverts the aim of the Restoration series - by finding the building most people would like to see razed to the ground.
And there is no doubt that locals have voted with their feet - in a move which will see the centre join a proposed `X' List of buildings - in what the team behind the show insist could be a postive move for Cumbernauld.
The show's executive producer Nicholas Kent said: "We are not suggesting that this building should be knocked down but the big message from the thousands of nominations we received is clear.
"It isn't just about bricks and mortar, it's about the way buildings affect the quality of people's lives.
"Most of these terrible buildings have survived for years, derelict and blighting their communities but it is almost impossible to get them removed and replaced with something better,'' added Mr Kent.
"That is why we are proposing an 'X List' of bad buildings which could speed up the process towards demolition or radical renovation,'' he added.

DEFENDED

But despite the huge scale of votes which put the centre at the top of the list, the building has been defended by a leading Glasgow architect Gordon Murray - who bears no relation to the Cumbernauld councillor of the same name. Mr Murray who co-owns a prominent architectural firm in the city centre said that with some major changes, the centre could prove to be a huge draw.
"I am sick and tired of people wanting to have a go at Cumbernauld when they have no solution. Knocking it down is not the solution. It could be transformed into something positive,'' said Mr Murray.
That view was shared by Condorrat man Bobby Johnston who was involved in the construction of Cumbernauld after being promoted throught the ranks of Cumbernauld Development Corp-oration in the 1960s and beyond.
Mr Johnston believes that the centre itself is not the problem - but the fact that it has been neglected.
He said: "I think that there are parts of the centre which should be knocked down but certainly not all of it. If the centre was re-done, it could even become a tourist attraction,'' he said.
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth MP Rosemary McKenna said that the programme was not the force for good that its producer claimed it to be.
"Once again these so-called 'award' programmes serve no constructive purpose other than to highlight the well-known problems facing the Town Centre. The people who live here know only too well the challenges we face and we don't need London-based TV companies to remind us,'' said Mrs McKenna.
"There is a serious side to this constant and very public negativity and that is when possible investors in the Town Centre could become nervous and scared off. The people of Cumbernauld want to see their Town Centre developed to provide a modern shopping experience as much as I do. I am afraid those who seek to exploit the current problems by bestowing us with patronising 'awards' simply don't,'' she added.

AWARDS

MSP Cathie Craigie echoed this view by saying that the programme makers were out of touch.
"When I receive complaints about Cumbernauld town centre, it is the condition of the centre and the range of shops which people are most concerned about,'' said Mrs Craigie.
"I have said it before and I will say it again - it was so-called design experts who told us that in the 1960s, Cumbernauld Town Centre was of outstanding architectural merit and we have the awards to prove it.
"It is the so-called design experts who are now knocking what only 40 years ago they praised. If these people think you can throw up and knock down buildings every few decades just to fit in with current trends, then they don't have a very firm grasp on reality,''
"Money has been spent on the interior of the centre but I hope that when the other parts are benefiting from the new Antonine Centre, the owners will be persuaded to upgrade the outside of the buildings and I intend to pursue this with them,'' added Mrs Craigie.
North Lanarkshire Council's planning and environment department who are partially responsible for the centre was also irate at the news.
Its director David Porch dismissed the basic premise of the show as "ludicrous.''
"The programme's suggestions are not based on practicality or reality, and don't take cognisance of the arrangements the council has entered into, or the funding, that would deliver this pie-in-the-sky idea," he said. "We can't and won't react to this suggestion simply to knock it down. The town centre is an important architectural heritage site as well as the centre of a planned community. We fully acknowledge the need to update and improve the town centre (and are finding it increasingly difficult to do so in the face of unhelpful and unconstructive criticism).
"Let's be clear, television programmes like this are solely for entertainment purposes. And des-pite the current trend of producing quick-fix makeover programmes it's quite unbelievable that the programme makers think a town centre fits into the makeover category. The programme hasn't given a second thought to the massive costs that this would entail, to who would fund and carry out the work and the impact this would have on Cumbernauld's local economy.
"The television company has now departed from Cumbernauld, leaving the council, its partners, the town centre owners and the local community to try to pick up the pieces.

BALANCE

"Publicity like this completely undermines the work already being carried out in Cumbernauld. I took part in the programme to attempt to provide some balance in a one-sided debate by highlighting what's already on offer in the area and outlining our future plans.
"These plans include the development of the new Antonine Centre and encouraging businesses to locate in Cumbernauld. What we don't need is businesses to think twice about coming here - we believe Cumbernauld deserves to be seen as an attractive and highly positive location for new companies and will continue to promote it as such."


Report by CLARE GRANT