About Perth & Kinross
Known as the ‘big county’, Perth & Kinross, is the gateway to the Highlands and home to around 135,000 people.
The Perth & Kinross local authority area is made up of Perthshire and Kinross-shire. Collectively the Perth and Kinross area was formerly known as Perthshire.
The big county refers to not only its physical area, but to the diversity of towns and countryside. Perth and Kinross feature everything you associate with Scotland including lochs, mountains, forests, castles, whisky, golf, fishing and centuries of history. The woods and gardens contain some of the most remarkable trees and woodlands anywhere in Europe.
The main towns are Perth and Kinross. The ‘Fair City’ of Perth lies in the east, on the banks of the silvery Tay, the largest river in Britain. Kinross is perhaps best known today as the venue for the popular ‘T in the Park’ pop festival, one of Europe's major summer music events.
Blairgowrie and East Perthshire are filled with rolling fields of soft fruit, quiet glens, peaceful lochs, rushing rivers and the mountains of Glenshee. The successful cultivation of raspberries has made this area the ‘Raspberry Capital of the World’.
It has long been considered to offer the highest quality of life in the UK and has very good air quality. The area is prosperous with a low unemployment rate of 1.7%.
The Future
The Perth & Kinross Structure Plan ‘Towards a Sustainable Future’, is the land-use planning document for the Perth & Kinross area to the year 2020.
Four key employment sites will play a major long-term role in the Plan’s strategy and in the local economy:
- Scottish Crop Research Institute at Invergowrie
- Oudenarde close to Bridge of Earn
- Perth Airport
- The area around the railway and bus stations in Perth
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