Richard has spent 27 of his 31 working years in West Lothian Council where he rose to be Development Control & Building Standards Manager. During that time he led both teams in their focus on service delivery and customer care. Both the Development Control and Building Standards Teams have been awarded Chartermark status by the Cabinet Office for excellence in the delivery of their public service.

Richard was elected Chair of the Scottish Society of Directors of Planning for 2005-2006 and was privileged to represent Scottish local authority planning as a witness to Parliamentary Committees in the development of the 2006 Planning Act.

He feels that this high profile and sheer hard work were factors in the privilege of being appointed Head of Planning & Building Standards in the Highland Council in June 2006. His commitment to the Council is his response to the challenge of modernising service delivery in respect of the new Planning Act and to the Council's restructuring.

Richard is pro-development and keen to seek improvements to design in all aspects of development.

In the few hours away from planning and building standards Richard likes to spend his time hill walking, gardening, enjoying the Sunshine on Leith and spending time with his three dogs, two cats, two horses and wife (although not necessarily in that order).