Electronic Herald Nov 20 1998

Ex-tourist chief sets for Cairngorms

GAVIN MADELEY

FORMER chairman of the Scottish Tourist Board, Ian Grant, is set to be named as the new chairman of the Cairngorms Partnership at a press conference later today. The Scottish Office was remaining tight-lipped over the appointment last night, but The Herald understands that Mr Grant will take up the post vacated by Lord Macdonald when he became Scottish Office Industry Minister. Mr Grant, who spent ten years as chairman of the STB, has a strong background in farming and is a former president of the National Farmers Union of Scotland. Simon Pepper, of the World Wide Fund for Nature, who sits on the board of the partnership, welcomed the appointment, saying: "This is a very interesting move; it sounds like good news. "I have not seen Ian Grant performing on the environment, but he has a good range of experience in the farming and tourism sectors and he will carry the confidence of those parties in his new role. "He is an experienced leader and would see the need for a balanced hand." The Cairngorms Partnership was established in 1995 to reconcile business, environmental and leisure interests concerned in the management of the area.