A PEEBLES man has been appointed as the new chairman of the Scottish Civic Trust.

Colin McLean was head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland for 16 years, and before that director of the Scottish Mining Museum as well as director of communications for the Scottish Museums Council.

He will take up the role from September 1, when the current chairman, Alistair Scott, steps down.

The organisation has promoted civic pride and citizenship across Scotland over the plast 50 years and Colin says he is “honoured to join the trust”.
He told the Peeblesshire News: “I am honoured to have the opportunity to join the trust at this time when our environment and our towns are enjoying renewed interest and support but face new threats and challenges.

“I want to pay tribute to Alistair Scott’s inspired leadership of the trust in recent years and I look forward to working with the trustees, staff and our many partners to develop our existing programme and seek new opportunities to promote civic pride.”

Current chairman Alistair Scott added: “Colin brings a breadth of experience from the historic environment, architecture and third sectors.
“His passion for buildings, heritage and photography will all be of enormous benefit to the trust as we move forward with our new strategic development plan.”