A SENIOR councillor in Dundee has dismissed as “rubbish” a report from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) that claimed “Clootie City” was the most miserable place in Scotland. The ONS “happiness index” said only people living in Bolsover in Derbyshire and Cannock Chase near Wolverhampton were less happy than Dundonians.
SNP councillor Jimmy Black, who also chairs the Dundee Partnership’s Fairness Commission, told The National: “There’s only one night of the year when Dundee’s the most miserable place in Scotland and that’s Hogmanay, because nothing happens here on Hogmanay.
“Every other night it seems quite joyful actually – I think this is a lot of rubbish.
“These surveys are very subjective and living in the city it’s quite clear that there’s a confident feel, just as the waterfront development and the V and A is starting to be built. It has really changed from what it was like 10 or 15 years ago.”
As a Dundonian born and bred, I can only agree with Black. About 15 years ago only journalism remained from the city’s once-renowned “3 Js” – jute and jam having disappeared.
Now, the ugliest building ever erected in the city – Tayside House – has been demolished as part of the waterfront development, the vacant industrial units have been refurbished as housing and the city has a thriving technology and games sector.
All of these have given Dundee a renewed self-belief.
“There’s a better feel about the city – it’s a more exciting place to be,” said Black.
However, he added the caveat: “Inequality in the city is as bad as anywhere and we have many people who do not have the income and opportunity to share in some of the good things that are happening, so we have to tackle that.
“That is something we’re working on at the moment with the Fairness Commission. We’re trying to find ways of ensuring that people who don’t have the means to share in the opportunities that the city provides can be included.”
According to the ONS people were asked to rate how happy they were on a scale from zero to 10. People in Fermanagh and Omagh were the happiest with an average rating of 8.3; the happiest Scots were in Eilean Sear, Orkney and Shetland with an average of 7.99; people in Dundee scored 7.02.
The ONS director of well-being, Glenn Everett, said a worrying feature of the figures was “a growing inequality” in people’s happiness and well-being levels
“that policy makers need to consider”.
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