| The 2003-2004 Scottish Household Survey, based on interviews with over 30,000 people across the country, suggests Dundonians are among the least enthusiastic when it comes to voluntary work, training for work, having access to the Internet or saving money.
Surprisingly for the city, which has developed a reputation for being the best local authority in Scotland for recycling, the report revealed that less glass, plastic and metal is recycled in the city compared to any other council area.
The report also contains some comparisons with other local authority areas that reinforce the difficulties Dundee is experiencing in shaking off its poverty-stricken image.
As a result, perhaps, Dundonians’ opinion of the city as a place to live is among the lowest of the 32 Scottish council areas.
It is not all gloom, however, as the type of neighbourhood problems the city experiences, such as noisy neighbours, vandalism, drinking and drugs, do not appear to be worse than in many other local authorities.
The city is also doing well in terms of the numbers of people on university-based courses, where it is bettered only by Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
Councillor Shimi admitted Dundee does suffer from problems, but denied it is a bad place to live.
She said there is a lot more work to be done, but is certain more people will benefit from new opportunities being made available.
“The facts are clear that Dundee is a go-ahead, vibrant city where people enjoy a great quality of life,” Councillor Shimi said.
“We are looking to build on this for the future, and ensure that even more people can benefit from the economic oppor-tunities being created.
“Dundee does suffer from problems, in common with other cities across Scotland and the UK, but we are working hard with our partners to change people’s lives for the better.
“We are proud of Dundee’s clean and green environment and our status as Scotland’s ‘recycling city’, and there are ongoing efforts to improve this.
“Following the award from the Scottish Executive of £26 million of strategic waste funding, the city council is now taking measures to ensure a significant increase in household compost collection and is trying new methods of collecting plastics, glass and aluminium cans direct from the kerbside.
“We have always said it is the enthusiasm and support of Dundonians themselves that has allowed us to become such a major recycler.
“On the economic side of the survey, the situation is that there is historically low unemployment accompanied by record levels of investment in the city at the moment. Only last week, the Evening Telegraph ran a story headlined ‘Dundee jobless at all-time low’.
“And, as for the Internet access figures, it must be pointed out that Dundee City Council has pioneered Internet access in its local libraries — people can now get on to the World Wide Web free of charge at every library across the city.
“I am hugely confident about the future of Dundee, and we have many real examples of how the city is achieving success.
“There is still a lot of work to be done, but that will not be shirked by the city council or its partners.” |
