Ewan Wallace
Head of Environment & Sustainability, Aberdeenshire Council
SCOTS Role: Interim and Past Chair
Ewan has worked in national and local government since 1990 with the vast majority of his career being focussed on strategic transport networks, programmes and projects in the North East of Scotland including new railways stations, major road projects, passenger transport, road safety and active travel. His current role in Aberdeenshire brings together those areas of work along side a broad range of Council functions focussed on the environment and leading of climate change and sustainability.
Ewan has supported SCOTS in various roles since 2004 and filled the role of Chair on two previous occasions. In that role he has worked extensively with Scottish Government and Transport Scotland on a range of projects, policies and strategies and also with UK colleagues via the UK Roads Leadership Group.
A past ICE Chair and ACCE President, Ewan is also a member of CIHT and a graduate of the University of Abertay.
Christine Francis
Head of Roads Asset Management, Glasgow City Council
SCOTS Role: Executive Vice Chaor, Chair of Asset Management Project
Christine Francis is an Executive Vice Chair of SCOTS and has served as the Chair of the Asset Management Project since 2008. She has played an integral role in shaping the development of the SCOTS asset management tools, templates and guidance.
Christine's career in local government spans over 35 years. Her experience includes working in direct labour organisations and managing an in-house design team however her primary focus and expertise predominantly revolves around road network management. She is currently the Head of Roads Asset Management
with Glasgow City Council, overseeing the strategic management of the city's road assets.
She is passionate about making asset management accessible and practical for roads practitioners and works through the Asset Management Project to streamline asset management practices.
Dot Reid
Head of Environment and Place, Stirling Council
SCOTS Role: Executive Vice Chair and Chair of the Performance and Benchmarking Group
As Head of Environment and Place within Stirling Council, Dots focus is on delivering critical operational services to communities in relation to roads, land, fleet and waste. She has extensive knowledge and experience in the roads sector in Scotland, having undertaken various roles over the last 35 years in local authority organisations.
As a member of SCOTS, and Chair of the SCOTS Performance and Benchmarking Group, and Executive Vice Chair she remains involved and informed on changes and technological advances in the sector.
Passionate about the development of engineers and technicians, she supports personal development and progression within the roads sector and champions the provision of SCOTS training opportunities.
Kevin Braidwood
Director of Housing Operations and Development, South Ayrshire Council
SCOTS Role: Secretary/Treasurer
Kevin Braidwood is the Director of Housing Operations and Development at South Ayrshire Council.
Kevin was formally the Head of Roads at Ayrshire Roads Alliance, a shared service between East Ayrshire Council and South Ayrshire Council, and under his current role is the senior officer within South Ayrshire Council with responsibility for the Roads Authority and working in partnership with Ayrshire Roads Alliance.
He has over 35 years’ experience in housing, civil engineering, architecture and urban regeneration within local government.
Kevin started his career with Strathkelvin District Council Architectural Services and thereafter to East Dunbartonshire Roads and Architectural Services. He spent several years with Raploch Urban Regeneration Company before moving to South Ayrshire Council as Roads Manager and was involved with the formation of Ayrshire Roads Alliance in partnership with East Ayrshire Council.
Kevin has recently moved to his new role within South Ayrshire Council.
He is a chartered member of CIOB and CIAT, and Associate Member of RICS and ICE.
He is a graduate of Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Strathclyde
Philip McKay
Head of Roads & Infrastructure, Aberdeenshire Council
SCOTS Role: Vice Chair
Philip has worked in local government since 1991 with the vast majority of his career being focussed on the management and maintenance of public infrastructure, from roads and bridges through to harbours and quarries. This also included a spell working on strategic transportation, including the development of the Local Transport Strategy and involvement on a number of pan European Transport projects.
His current role in Aberdeenshire is to lead the team responsible for roads and infrastructure maintenance and management. This involves leadership of a technical team with a wide ranging remit, as well as a direct labour organisation involved in road and bridge works. The remit also includes a fleet service providing a wide range of vehicles to all services across the council.
Philip has supported SCOTS in various roles, including Vice Chair and then Chair of the Liaison Committee, and is current one of the Vice Chairs of SCOTS.
Philip is a graduate of The University of Glasgow, a Chartered Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a member of the Chartered Management Institute.
Colin Park
Head of Roads,Transportation and Fleet Services Community and Enterprise Resources, South Lanarkshire Council
SCOTS Role: SCOTS Strategic Issues Group
Colin is an experienced Local Government Chief Officer, Chartered Civil Engineer (CEng), Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE) and Member of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (MCIHT) with over 31 years’ experience across three different Local Authorities. He leads and direct a strong multi-functional workforce of over 500 employees across multiple diverse strategic, professional, operational, and front facing services and disciplines. As well as a wider corporate role he is responsible for Roads Design & Contracts, Project Control, Geotechnical, Bridges and Structures, Flood Risk Management, Traffic and Transportation, Development Management, Contracting Services, Parking Operations / Enforcement, Passenger Transport and Fleet Services. Collaborating closely with colleagues, partners, communities, and trade unions is key to how Services are delivered, and he tackles operational performance / improvement via a strong asset and strategic management approach.
Gary Neill
Road Services Manager - Stirling Council
SCOTS Role: Chair of Roads Group
Gary is the Road Services Manager at Stirling Council within the Environment and Place Service. He leads on road maintenance including work on: operations; bridges, flooding and drainage; street lighting, and NRSWA specialisms. Experienced in managing and delivering an effective 365/24/7 roads and lighting emergency service dealing with all road-related emergencies including working with partners in emergency planning and resilience. He began his career at Falkirk Council and worked there for 16 years before moving to Stirling Council in 2022. Gary is a Fellow of the Institute of Highway Engineers and also sits on their council.
Paul Finch
Strategy Manager, Nestrans
SCOTS Role: Chair of Transportation Working Group
Paul is the Strategy Manager at Nestrans, the Regional Transport Strategy for North East Scotland. Paul has the benefit of almost 30 years' experience in transport planning, spread across both private and public sector. He currently leads on the transport elements of the Aberdeen City Region Deal, supports the region's Health and Transport Action Plan, and has a particular interest in the intersection between regional transport planning, land use planning and economic development. Recently he led the region's efforts in delivering the new Kintore Railway Station, and when working in the private sector led numerous projects across Scotland considering rural and island accessibility, rural development issues, and major scheme appraisals.
Stuart Colbron
Road Safety Senior Engineer, West Lothian Council
SCOTS Role: Chair of the Traffic and Road Safety (TaRS) Working Group
Stuart started work in the Road Safety field in 1990 with the then Fife Regional Council. He has also worked for a number of other Local Authorities as well as in the private sector. He has gained experience in all aspects of Traffic Management and Transportation. Whilst at Portsmouth City Council, Stuart set up and chaired the Exor Accident Manager User Group. At Mouchel, he was the Deputy Road Safety Manager for the Highways Agency (now Highways England) Area 5 which included the M25. Stuart has been a member of a number of industry groups. Early in 2023 Stuart was elected as the Chair to the SCOT TaRS working group. Stuarts hobbies include Rugby Union (watching only these days!), golf and walking his three Jack Russell Terriers.
Laura Moffat
Project Manager, Glasgow City Council
SCOTS Role: Project Manager - RAMP & SRMCS
Laura is the SCOTS Project Manager for the Roads Asset Management Project (RAMP) and the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey (SRMCS). Laura has a lead role in managing both these projects and their associated contracts with responsibilities including budget management, ensuring delivery of defined asset management and scanner outputs, and supporting collaboration and knowledge sharing amongst roads practitioners across councils and wider roads community stakeholders. Laura comes from a procurement and contract management background, having previously worked in strategic sourcing teams in both central and local government as well as for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 European Championships Organising Committees.
Angela Mairs
Business Support Assistant, Improvement Service
SCOTS Role: SCOTS Secretariat
On behalf of the Improvement Service, Angela provides secretariat support in line with the Service Level Agreement. This support includes:
- Executive Board and weekly Strategic Issue Group meeting support
- Ensuring effective engagement with SCOTS members and stakeholders
- Ensuring the new website content is up to date and the website is appropriately hosted and updated
- Providing support and administration to SCOTS Knowledge Hub groups
- Issuing membership fee invoices and liaising with the SCOTS Treasurer to ensure accounts are prepared.
- Providing an event management service for the annual SCOTS conference and twice-yearly Business Meetings
- Providing ad hoc support to other society groups as and when requested and resources permit.