Telford has its say: Slur on our town is just monstrous

Over in the town centre, thousands assemble for a festival full of colour and fun. They are also enjoying a park that has been named Britain's best.

Is this really the ninth worst town in the country for the natural environment?

Well, that is the finding of the Legatum Institute's UK Prosperity Index, which ranks the country's 389 local authorities for seven different quality of life indicators, and then calculates an overall "prosperity" ranking for each area. And while the area covered by Shropshire Council and neighbouring Powys perform reasonably close to the national average, for Telford & Wrekin the figures make sobering reading.

First the good news. Telford & Wrekin is ranked highly as a place for providing a good business environment, well above average in 111th place. But the bad news is it ranks below average for every other category, particularly with regard to the natural environment, where it comes 381st.

So how does the home of the Ironbridge Gorge, the Weald Moors, and of course The Wrekin itself, find itself languishing at the foot of the table?

It is a question puzzling the people who live and work in Telford, who say their home is the victim of a slur.

John Ellis, who keeps the Crown Inn in Oakengates and the Elephant & Castle in Dawley, says the ranking does not reflect the borough that he knows.

"This weekend I had two musicians from Ireland playing here, and they both said what a lovely area it was, they couldn't believe how green it was," he says.

"I have lived here for almost 30 years, and I think it's a great place to live and work."

He might also have mentioned the Telford Town Park, which was last year voted the best in the UK in the Fields In Trust awards. The Southwater development has also given the new town a thriving leisure district, providing a focal point for entertainment and civic functions. So how does the borough come to be ranked so low?

The institute's Giles Dinot admits that he, too, was a little surprised by some of the findings. He says the research was heavily reliant on statistics, and one indicator could have a big impact on the final rankings.

"The natural environment category, for example, looks at things like the amount of waste generated, as well as factors like air pollution, so if you have got a local authority which has an excellent recycling policy, for example, it will lift its score," he says.

Mr Dinot says, to avoid any controversy, the study relies solely on government figures. It ranks the local authority areas in seven basic categories: economic wealth, business environment, education, health, safety and security, social capital, and the natural environment. It then uses these findings to calculate an overall "prosperity" indicator, which measures general wellbeing, as distinct from material wealth.

Mr Dinot says the disparity between Telford & Wrekin and the rest of Shropshire was a prime example of how urban areas, which are generally wealthier than rural districts, struggle to turn their financial power into a better standard of living for their residents.

While Telford is rated much more highly as a place to do business – Shropshire comes in at a lowly 359, and neighbouring Powys is eighth from bottom at 382 – this is not reflected in the economic statistics for the people who actually live in Telford & Wrekin, which puts the borough below average in 226th place. By contrast, Shropshire is above average in 162nd place, and Powys does particularly well in 81st place.

The report also paints a bleak picture for the health and education of people in the borough. For education, Telford & Wrekin comes 278th, compared to 150th for Shropshire, and for health the gap is wider still: while Shropshire is is one of the healthiest places in the country, in 81st place, Telford is a disappointing 324th

Mr Ellis says he is mystified by the borough's low ranking for safety and security.

It ranked Telford & Wrekin in 306th place, putting it in the bottom quarter, but Mr Ellis says he finds that hard to believe.

"I walk around Oakengates or Dawley at night, and they are incredibly safe and comfortable, relaxed places to go around," he says.

Mr Dinot says the aim of the research is to find how different areas compare when it comes to converting financial wealth into general wellbeing, or "prosperity".

Harriet Maltby, author of the report, adds: "If there is no good school for your child, your environment and lifestyle is unhealthy, and you don't have people around you to depend on, then many more life opportunities are closed to you."

However, John Ellis is not convinced. "For quality of life, for bringing up my kids, for the environment, or for doing business, the community of Oakengates is absolutely outstanding," he says.

"I don't recognise these statistics as being meaningful."