Perth and Kinross Council has poured more cold water on a national study that claims Perth is the least environmentally-friendly city in the UK.
The Earth Day survey by a company called Solar Centre revealed a rundown of British cities and how they compared on issues such as waste management, air pollution and fly tipping.
Perth came bottom of all 59 cities, with a score of 3.91 out of 10.
The results were criticised by politicians this weekend, who said the study didn’t add up and failed to take account of huge green spaces like the South and North Inch.
Now the local authority has weighed into the debate, saying the findings are deeply flawed.
A council spokesman said: “We take climate change extremely seriously but believe the research used by a commercial solar lights company to produce these rankings is flawed and misleading.”
He said: “The data on air quality and green spaces comes from the impressions of a handful of people submitted to a website several years ago rather than any scientific measurement.
“Perth was named Champion of Champions in the 2019 Britain in Bloom awards and according to Scottish Local Government Benchmarking statistics, satisfaction rates with our parks and open spaces stands at 89.1% – the second highest rating of Scotland’s 32 local authorities.”
The spokesman added: “Satisfaction with street cleanliness is also the third highest in Scotland.
“Our climate change Action Plan includes screening to see if a Low Emissions Zone would reduce emissions in Perth and a new Air Quality Management Plan for Crieff.
“We have over 80 electric charging points in Perth and Kinross and have received more than £6 million in funding from SUSTRANS to improve our cycling and walking alternatives in Perth city.
“Air quality monitoring in Perth and Kinross shows pollutant levels are reducing and our recycling rates are high.”
Solar Centre, which specialises in eco-lighting products, defended the study, saying it was based on mostly government data.
