Resident complains to Perth and Kinross Council that footpath is still muddy four years on

A Perth resident has asked Perth and Kinross Council why a footpath remains muddy and barely usable – despite calling for action four years ago.

Council vehicles have churned up a section of the Perth path leaving, according to John Pyper, only “a narrow strip” on either side of the verge for walkers to negotiate their way along.

Mr Pyper claimed “nothing has been done” to improve the situation since asking the local authority to do something about it in 2022, but PKC said it had previously removed mud from this part of the path and pledged to do so again.

After raising the issue again in April 2026, Perth City South ward Liberal Democrat councillor Liz Barrett said she had flagged the issue with council officials.

In an email to Perth and Kinross Council, shared with the Local Democracy Reporting Service and two local councillors including Cllr Barrett, Mr Pyper said: “In March 2022, I reported the poor state of the Tinkers Loan public footpath near to Ettrick Drive in Perth. Specifically, that the path was covered by a thick layer of mud, deeply rutted by vehicle wheels. (PKC vehicles?)

“This makes the path difficult for users to negotiate except by walking on a narrow strip of remaining verge to each side of the actual path.

“In May 2022, PKC advised you had, ‘put through a request for the work to be carried out as soon as the squad have capacity to do so’.

“Since then nothing has been done.”

Mr Pyper shared photos of the muddy path in March 2022 and the path looking just as muddy in April 2026.

He added: “In 2022 I suggested the following potential course of action:

to avoid using mechanical plant – shovel the mud off the path
to avoid removing material off site – evenly spread the mud removed from the path onto the grass verges and the wooded area to the west of the path.”

The local said the path remains unuseable LDRS

Perth and Kinross Council told the Local Democracy Reporting it had previously removed excess mud from the path and would look to do so again in the near future.

A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson said: “This section of the path concerned has previously had work carried out to remove the excess mud. As this part of the path is below trees, there can be a build-up of leaves and other natural matter.

“While we do use the path to access the nearby green space for maintenance purposes, we also appreciate the concerns being raised by members of the local community.

“We will look to arrange a further session of removing excess mud from the path in the near future and will be considering how we can include the path to our list for upgrading on a prioritised basis.”