Much of the “worst” Highlands is actually Scotland at its best.

A widely reported survey which placed the Highlands region bottom of Scotland’s “league table” for public services has given an unavoidably bleak impression of life in the area.

It involved an annual compilation of data by the Sunday Times newspaper, which attracted a lot of attention, and if the Highlands had been just at the top of the table or hovering somewhere in the middle, it might have been accepted without controversy. But it was anchored right at the bottom, and suggested that the area invited unflattering comparisons with Siberia.

Such a bleak assessment is at odds with the reality of life in communities across the vast northern landscape. And it proved the validity of only one thing: the old adage that there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

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No one underestimates the need for good public services. But the portrayal of the Highlands as being so woefully deprived compared to the rest of Scotland seemed shockingly misleading. There are factors that influence quality of life that cannot be compiled into a spreadsheet, and the Highlands have them in abundance, in a way that many other parts of Scotland do not.

Open countryside, lack of congestion, easy access to nature, low crime rates and, in many places, a community spirit that is alien to big cities, to name just a few.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the question: would you rather live in the Highlands – anywhere in the Highlands – rather than in swathes of Glasgow, Edinburgh or Dundee, which have some areas with very dismal reputations. That’s a low bar to set, but it could be set much higher. Many of us would choose to live here rather than anywhere else in Scotland or the UK. We wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

And so many people want to join us. The popularity of the Highlands has led to an influx causing serious housing difficulties in some areas and Inverness in particular. This is a problem in itself, but there are still positive signs.

I am ready and willing to be as critical of Highland Council as anyone, but any reasonable person will recognise, in transport, for example, the challenges posed by the vast network of roads it has to cover. And in education, the number of schools of all sizes in communities spread over a vast area that need to be funded, staffed and maintained. We seek improvements and an effort to reduce failures when and where they occur, but there is a limit to what can be done. Highland Council is not perfect, that we know only too well, but to suggest that it is the worst performing council in Scotland is overly harsh.

And it’s easy to take for granted that people can walk down the streets of the Highlands at any time of day or night without having to look over their shoulder or feel uncomfortable. What wouldn’t many law-abiding people in Glasgow or Edinburgh give for that sense of safety and security?

Council coordinator Bill Lobban said: “I simply do not recognise the place the Sunday Times claims to portray.” Its failure to do so is entirely understandable.

To suggest that life in Inverness, Aviemore, Dingwall, Ullapool, Wick and all points in between is ruined and contaminated in a way that invites people in the rest of the country to pity us is so misleading as to be bizarre.

Of course we would like better public services, as would people everywhere. But they are not the be-all and end-all when it comes to quality of life. They need improving, we know that, but even with all the flaws, we are still lucky to live in this region. Far from being dumped at the bottom of any league table, much of the Highlands is Scotland at its best.

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