Richard Wakeford

Richard Wakeford joined the Scottish Executive at the start of 2005 from the Countryside Agency in England where he had been Chief Executive since its creation in 1999. Richard was also an appointed member of the UK Sustainable Development Commission and a non-executive member of the management board of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). He remains an honorary member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Before joining the Countryside Commission as Chief Executive in 1996, Richard worked in the Cabinet Office working on Cabinet minutes, economic and environmental affairs. His previous experience was mainly in the Department of the Environment working on land use, environment and water policy issues. In 1990 he wrote a book on development control in the USA, following a year spent at Princeton University. He has also advised the Hungarian government on land use and sustainable development, under the auspices of the Know How Fund.