Embarrassing carbuncles
There's something faintly embarassing about the Carbuncle awards.
And I should know, having followed the team from Prospect magazine around delapidated town centres as they've attempted to hand over their plastic "plook on a plinth" to some unsuspecting member of the public.
Noone takes too kindly to being told their town is the Most Dismal Place in Scotland, even if quietly they agree.
When they were first instigated, their aim was laudable - to raise the level of debate about town planning and design and to encourage more discussion about how contentious planning decisions are made.
Nowhere is that more obvious than the Carbuncle for Worst Planning Decision for Donald Trump's £1 billion pound golf resort in Aberdeenshire, one of the most talked about planning decisions of the last year.
But somehow the healthy design debate is overshadowed by the Carbuncle for Most Dismal Town, shortlisted by a judging panel with a little help from the voting public.
Thankfully, this year's award broke into North Lanarkshire's winning run (or unlucky streak) with past awards to Cumbernauld (twice), Airdrie and Coatbridge.
If Motherwell had won, it would have further fuelled the argument that the judges were simply kicking towns when they were down rather than encouraging them to get back up and fight back.
Instead, it was Glenrothes, which as a new town adds insult to injury by being built specifically for its 40,000 strong population.
Yet its windowless mall, concrete centre and lack of civic space fly in the face of good planning judgement.
And for once, rather than feeling insulted, many members of the local community see it as a catalyst for change.
Ronald Page of the Glenrothes Area Futures Group, which is made up of community councils, resident groups and local churches said: "This award coincides with the aims and objectives of the Glenrothes Area Futures Group, set up one year ago and very much supported by the people in this area, especially in terms of a quest for a new Glenrothes Town Centre Plan.
"We reckon Fife Council has ignored the Glenrothes area for 10-15 years."
Will it be enough for the council to sit up and take notice? The Carbuncles people hope so.
After criticism about their awards, they've changed a few things.
This spring they'll take their experts back to Glenrothes to stage a conference which they hope will come up with some design solutions for the town, as well as criticisms of what's gone wrong.
It's a step in the right direction and will hopefully provoke the sort of debate they set out to do.
But they need to ditch that awful lump of plastic - and the photocalls in damp shopping centres around the country.
Not London’s South Bank, but the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow - every bit as lively in cultural terms as its namesake. I’m Pauline McLean, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland’s arts correspondent, and I’ll be blogging here about arts events and issues happening across the country.
Comment number 1.
At 29th Jan 2009, newsjock wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 2.
At 29th Jan 2009, smithberry wrote:You say
"Instead, it was Glenrothes, which as a new town adds insult to injury by being built specifically for its 40,000 strong population."
but don't appear to notice that Cumbernauld (which as you say won twice) is also a new town. I suspect the people making the award don't really get new towns, where the centre is generally just a shopping centre and the real beuaty of the town planning lies elsewhere (having lived in 3 of the 5 Scottish new towns and married to someone from a fourth I think I can say I do get new towns).
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Comment number 3.
At 29th Jan 2009, DelaneyVonTrap wrote:As a former resident of Airdrie I remember all to well our worst town award. Whether or not it made any difference is questionable as town centre looks more dilapidated every time I return.
Airdrie itself is a contradiction. I remember a few years ago talking to a German exchange student who was working Monklands hospital. She was amazed that Airdrie had such a bad reputation. The way she saw things it was in a good location with fast, reliable links to Glasgow on one side and the Campsie hills on the other. Throw into the mix some historic buildings and several parks and you have an ideal commuter town. It even made me look twice!
I have always felt though that the heart of the problem with poor town planning and building lies with the local councils. The responsibility for both civic and commercial property development decisions should be taken out of the hands of "toon cooncillors" and into a centralized body of experts who have the knowledge and experience to create great liveable spaces. Perhaps, Alex Salmond et al could make this their legacy for Scotland?
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Comment number 4.
At 30th Jan 2009, MrBontana wrote:Its good to see the Carbuncles being more proactive - slagging places off just for the sake of it without providing solutions is a bit off.
Anyway, I remember my old Urban Design lecturer (who hailed from Stuttgart) from university telling me of a study trip that he went on in the 1960s to Scotland - all of the participating students were mightily impressed with the pioneering modernist developments taking place in .... take a guess .... Cumbernauld. They learnt lessons from this trip and applied them to their own towns and cities.
Where did we go wrong?
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Comment number 5.
At 30th Jan 2009, newsjock wrote:Here's me having a second go after having been "moderated" out earlier.
If Glenrothes is the Scottish carbuncle of the year, it means that other townships across the land must be very pleasant places.
We live near Glenrothes, and enjoy our regular trips to Glenrothes town centre and the town's generous and well tended open spaces.
In 2008 Glenrothes won three awards from Beautiful Scotland - a pity that praise didn't get the same amount of publicity that the carbuncle has.
I agree with Pauline that passing the development proposals for Donald Trump's golfing wonderland is a carbuncle in the making.
The lure of new jobs and future local prosperity often blur our decisions on what is good and bad development.
By definition Scotland is a country of wild open spaces, where the unspoilt beauty and barrenness of nature can be appreciated.
Much of this type of land in the Aberdeen area has already disappeared under the "civilising" bulldozer.
The Menie development will only add to nature's losses near Aberdeen !
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