THE council official whose comments on Channel 4's Demolition sparked outrage has told the News that the authority will not adopt the programme's blueprint for a pedestrianised boulevard on undeveloped land stretching from outside St Mungo's Parish Church to the back entrance of the town centre.
David Porch was responding to comments made by a Central Scotland List MSP who has argued that the team of architects on the programme had hit on a brainwave.
But the planning director's response is that it is easy for a TV programme to come up with a clever makeover idea, but only local knowledge and an understanding of the economic and environmental factors at play can deliver a realistic development.
His comments suggest that North Lanarkshire Council is NOT of the same mind as the Cumbernauld Community Forum, which formed an alliance with the authority to improve the town centre. Members argued that the £55 million Antonine Centre which is at last under construction is NOT a sufficient means of re-inventing the centre - and a full revamp is required.
But Mr Porch - who memorably told presenter Janet Street-Porter that "people do not care what buildings look like from the outside,'' has dismissing Demolition as a "makeover'' show.
Mr Porch said: "It was the council's opinion that a programme such as Demolition could never accurately reflect the complexities, practicalities and economics of redeveloping a town centre as complex as Cumbernauld. Nevertheless we agreed to be represented with the intention of attempting to make a meaningful contribution and to accurately represent the reality of the situation.
"Despite our best efforts, however, the programme adopted a TV makeover approach that illustrated only the points it wished to make and offered only changes without any suggestion of how those might be funded or implemented. It failed, therefore, to provide a realistic solution. It also failed to show the council's participation in a panel of experts at which the idea of demolition and the proposed replacement scheme was deemed unworkable,'' he added.
"It also failed to demonstrate the considerable investments already made by the owners of the Megastructure on the interior of the building, and the council's own investment in the pedestrian approaches to the centre. It didn't mention the actual and planned investments, public and private, that runs into tens of millions of pounds and which are delivering quality sports facilities, schools, housing, businesses, employment opportunities and community amenities within the town,'' said Mr Porch.
"The work which started last week on the Antonine Mall will bring more jobs, better retail options and a much-improved look to the town centre. Tree-lined boulevards and al fresco bistros might sound appealing, but in reality developments have to be practical and deliverable,'' he added.
"At the end of the day the council and its partners do everything they can to find real solutions that make a real difference to people's lives. It is therefore difficult for us to give credence to television programmes that seek only ratings and popularity."
But he did not think that any motion raised at Holyrood on the subject would be in vain.
"We would welcome any discussion with the Scottish Parliament about how best to serve the town,''said Mr Porch.
But Tom Reilly, who chairs the Cumbernauld Community Forum, said: "We have not written off the work of the Demolition programme. We found it went to the heart of the problems in Cumbernauld town centre.
"The programme was a serious attempt to resolve the town centre problems and it should not just be rubbished - makeover programmes sometimes can generate good ideas, - that is why they are so popular."
Mr Reilly said that the forum had formed a new sub-group. "The first meeting of this new group has been arranged with the council on February 9 to discuss how we can work in partnership for the good of Cumbernauld. I hope that Mr Porch does not have preconceived ideas. That that would undermine the Partnership approach we have agreed with North Lanarkshire Council.
"North Lanarkshire Council must listen and act on the views of the residents of Cumbernauld and action groups in the town,'' he said.
"The appearance of the town centre as a whole is very important to the people of Cumbernauld and it requires much more than the Antonine Mall to improve the overall appearance. A box planted down is not enough, - as was clearly shown in the Demolition programme. The new shopping must compliment and link to the existing shops or jobs will continue to be lost in the those existing town centre shops,'' he said.
In a nod to the fact that there may be a follow-up to Demolition, Mr Reilly added: "Channel 4 television has not run away, it is still interested in how our town centre can be improved and how the local authorities can work with the local communities to make this improvement take place - how the complexities, practicalities, economics and communities can work together to produce a town centre of which we can all be proud,'' added Mr Reilly.

Report: CLARE GRANT