Don't you dare to knock our town - we do that ourselves

"IT SHOULD be Scotland's third town," says one Cumbernauld resident - "but it isn't."

Such sentiments were heard over and over again yesterday in one of Scotland's most maligned towns - and it was agreed Cumbernauld's main problem is its shopping centre. Built in a fit of idealism as one of Scotland's "new town" projects, it is now a sprawling, decaying, half-empty warren of buildings crying out to be used in a remake of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

This is not a minority opinion: the entire town centre won a public nomination for demolition in Channel 4 series Demolition as the worst building in Britain. David Berry, a policeman, will tomorrow leave Cumbernauld, where he has lived almost his whole life, to take up a post in London - and does not intend to return.

"Cumbernauld is a disaster. It's being pulled down by all the people who should be helping it: the council, government and politicians. I was travelling back from London last week, chatting to a man from Somerset. When I told him I came from Cumbernauld, he said 'Oh that's the place with the awful town centre'. Its reputation goes before it."

Lynsey Fraser, a customer service adviser out shopping with her mother and baby son, Luke, is also planning to leave as soon as possible: "My house is going up for sale and I'm moving to Fife. I'm a trained care assistant and my husband is an electrician, so we'll find work. I'm definitely not staying. I don't like Cumbernauld at all, it's a dump. There's people taking drugs and I'm frightened to go out at night."

One of the recurring themes is a lack of things for young people to do or places for them to go - and fear of crime in the area.

Jade Taylor and Stephanie McGuire are both 16 and at Cumbernauld High School. They have come into the centre during their lunch break, but neither seems keen to stay. "There's nothing for us to do in the town," says Stephanie. "If you want to go for a night out you have to go to either Coatbridge or Glasgow. We used to have youth clubs and centres but the council has shut them down."

Jade adds: "This place is really going downhill. It's a dump. There are no shops in this centre suitable for young people."

Both say they want to go to university when they finish their schooling and neither intends to stay in Cumbernauld for any length of time.

But among the criticism and gloomy predictions, the town remains a reasonably prosperous place where it is possible to enjoy a good standard of life.

Many people speak of the ease with which they could reach the countryside and good access to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Dawn Cumming, 40, a support worker, says: "I quite like it here. Where I live is a two-minute walk to open fields. And it's very central, you can get to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Falkirk."

When it comes to politics, most of the people have a strong sense of their Scottish identity but are less passionate about independence than in some other places. Where there are strong feelings, they are focused on the way they feel the town is treated by North Lanarkshire Council.

Alan Weir believes Cumbernauld has not been the same since it was switched from Stirlingshire to North Lanarkshire as a result of boundary changes in the 1990s: "There's a lot of money in this town and the council are reaping this through high rates and putting it into the likes of Coatbridge and Motherwell. They took all the hardback books from the local library and transferred them to Coatbridge.

"Quite honestly, Cumbernauld should be the third town of Scotland after Edinburgh and Glasgow. But it's not and it never will be, because all the money is going elsewhere."

Despite universal frustration with the town centre there is a glimmer of hope about current developments. Elaine McCluskey, who lives in nearby Kilsyth, believes things might get better: "They are building a shopping centre here, and that'll include Next, Halfords and TK Maxx, and there's a retail park being built as well. They will bring a lot of people and trade to the town. I'll probably shop here rather than go into Glasgow."

'THE TOWN CENTRE LOOKS LIKE THE BACK OF A FACTORY BUILDING'

"I think of myself as British. I came here from Lincolnshire last June. I moved here to try to live an independent life in supported accommodation as I have spina bifida. I find it a very friendly place."
Danny Killen, 31

"I would like to demolish the town centre, but the council don't believe it - though it is regularly slated. I believe in independence. We would do a far better job if we didn't have to keep answering to that mob down there."
Elizabeth McGregor, 47, Inland Revenue

"We need to get rid of this Labour government and then we would be all right. We should go for independence. As it is, the Executive is just another layer of government and is a waste of money."
Scott Taylor, civil servant

"We are treated like a milk cow for North Lanarkshire. We are paying for a lot of the work that is going on elsewhere. Back in 1993, the Tories had a green paper on the future of local authorities and they put forward the idea of new town authorities, cutting them loose from the others and letting them stand alone. I think that should still happen.
Scott MacFarlane, Cumbernauld

"When we have people to stay they drive through the town centre and don't realise it is the town centre. It looks like the back of a factory building. There isn't enough for youngsters to do here - or for the elderly either, unless you fancy bingo or line dancing."
Margaret Nicole, 68.

"I came to see what Cumbernauld looks like - I might move here. It's a nice place, quite small. It's a bit more quiet and I think living here would be cheaper than in Glasgow."
Hermantha Berara, 43, refugee from Sri Lanka who lives in Glasgow

"There's nobody building here for young people, nobody catering for young couples. My son was looking for a two-bed house or flat and had an awful lot of bother. They are just building four-bedroomed homes. The money that walks out of Cumbernauld every weekend to Glasgow and Stirling is unbelievable."
Florence Tonner, 52, Inland Revenue