Shonaig Macpherson, chairman of the National Trust for Scotland, will not stand for a second term of office after months of infighting that left her facing a motion of no confidence at the charity’s AGM this month. Ms Macpherson’s decision, announced yesterday, comes less than a month after it was revealed that the trust plans to sell its historic Wemyss House headquarters in Edinburgh’s New Town and relocate to a business park in an effort to cut costs. A senior trust source described the relocation plan as the “straw that broke the camel’s back”. It came after moves in March to mothball four historic properties and to make 65 redundancies.
Trust sources said yesterday that Ms Macpherson announced her intention to stand down when her current five-year appointment ends in September 2010 at a meeting of the trust’s council in June. But members of the trust and staff at its headquarters in Charlotte Square were not told.
News of Ms Macpherson’s decision came two days after the trust announced record membership of 315,000 and revenues of £10 million. But critics were unimpressed by yesterday’s announcement. Charles Barrington, who proposed the confidence motion, said it was typical that members were not told about her departure. He added that Ms Macpherson should not seek to push through contentious measures and “must relinquish the sale proposal for Wemyss House to the council”.
In Trust for Scotland (ITFS), a pressure group representing some trust members, said that a replacement should be found quickly. “We do not believe it is acceptable for the current chair or board to be involved in the proposal for governance reform and call for the appointment of a new chair or caretaker with immediate effect,” a spokesman said.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6817828.ece
