By Aakifah Gani

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The “most dismal” town in Scotland has been named. Whilst it was described as having “good bones”, its “haphazard and misdirected investment” was criticised. After a decade-long break, the Carbuncle Awards have made their comeback for 2025. The contentious awards hand out the ‘Plook on the Plinth’ prize to the ugliest town in the nation. The winner of the 2025 Plook on the Plinth award has been announced as Port Glasgow in Inverclyde, which is presently marking its 250th anniversary. The second-largest town in the council area, it boasts a population of approximately 14,000 residents, reports the Daily Record . Urban Realm, the architecture magazine responsible for the Carbuncle Awards, claimed Port Glasgow had “squandered potential”. The publication portrayed the town as featuring “grey walls, rubble and boarded-up windows”. Port Glasgow houses the Clune Park housing estate, which has been dubbed “Scotland’s Chernobyl “. Urban Realm slammed the choice to flatten the estate, arguing that it was “solidly built and once home to a thriving community”. Additionally, Urban Realm observed that Port Glasgow is “dominated by a retail park and dual carriageway that dulls the senses while sucking life from the town centre”. It also remarked that the town has abandoned its waterfront, which was previously filled with busy shipyards. John Glenday, the organiser of the Carbuncle Awards and editor of Urban Realm, remarked: “Port Glasgow is a town of squandered potential. “Look beyond the grey walls, rubble and boarded-up windows to long vistas and you can see the inherent beauty of the place, still punctuated by the grandeur of the library. “Unfortunately, the built environment at large fails to do justice to what could and should be a jewel in the Clyde’s crown. Clune Park was solidly built and once home to a thriving community. “With investment, it could have done so again. Issues around population decline and deprivation are real but are best dealt with by working with established assets, not sweeping buildings aside in the hope that the underlying problems will go away.” In response to the announcement, Provost of Inverclyde Drew McKenzie defended Port Glasgow. He also criticised the Carbuncle Awards, stating that the “so-called award couldn’t be further from the truth”. McKenzie stated: “It’s ironic that Port Glasgow has been bestowed this ‘honour’ at a time of transformation and celebration for the town-and in the town’s 250th anniversary year, which saw record crowds gather to celebrate the past, present and future of the town. “However, as Oscar Wilde famously said, ‘there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about’, and this provides an opportunity to highlight how this so-called award couldn’t be further from the truth. “Sadly this ‘study’ focuses on a few very specific areas but Port Glasgow is so much more. The fact that these ‘awards’ have been missing without notice for a decade speaks for itself.” He added: “There aren’t many places that boast a town centre with award-winning businesses, a recently restored building from the 1700s, a successful retail park, a castle, the last commercial shipyard on the Lower Clyde, a famous sculpture, first-class transport links by road, rail, air and sea, a swimming pool, new housing, and wonderful outdoor spaces all surrounded by breathtaking views-and that’s just one area.” Past recipients of the Plook on the Plinth gong include Airdrie, Glenrothes, and Aberdeen. As reported by the Daily Record, Cumbernauld in North Lanarkshire remains the sole location to have scooped the accolade twice. Further details can be found on the Urban Realm website. Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We’d love to hear from you!