Membership and Members
Membership
The Officers of the Glasgow Prestwick Airport Consultative Committee
| Chairman | Richard Searle |
| Vice Chair | Bob Smith |
| Secretary | Nigel Wallace |
| Treasurer | James Riach |
Office Holders
A Chairman and a Vice Chairman are independent and appointed by members. The initial appointment is for three years, thereafter on a yearly basis. The Chairman and Vice Chair must act at all times on an impartial basis whilst in office.
The Secretary is also independent so that proceedings can be seen to be open and transparent and there is no undue influence by the company on committee matters. The Secretary prepares minutes and papers for meetings and circulates them in advance, draws up the agenda in consultation with the Chairman, maintains the committee’s website and draws up responses to official consultations and other matters as needed.
The Treasurer is drawn from the Committee membership and operates GPACCs bank account. The treasurer presents an annual statement of accounts in January each year. GPA does not currently provide any funding towards the effective working of the committee.
GPACC are members of the United Kingdom Association of Airport Consultative Committees and the Chairman and Secretary normally attend the Annual Liaison meeting of UKACCS which is hosted at one of the member airports. Matters of common concern to airport consultative committees are discussed at these meetings. A report of the discussions is circulated afterwards.
Airport Consultative Committee
Most members are nominated by their sponsoring organisation, although there are a number of individual members appointed because of their relevant expertise. Broadly speaking there are three types of membership:
- Users of the airport. Mainly passengers but also including airlines and associated services. This group also includes consumer and relevant business organisations and disabled groups.
- Local Authorities (LAs) in the surrounding area. Whenever possible it is preferred that the member represents or lives in the area closest to the airport. They should represent the full range of relevant issues, including planning, economic and environmental issues. They should endeavour to enable the LA to better consider how the airport features in their plans and policies, through the knowledge they have gained through the Committee.
- Representatives of the local communities and organisations around the actual airport site, which can be directly affected by the airport’s operations. They include residents’ organisations and Community Councils.
Where a member cannot attend a meeting they should inform the Secretary beforehand and to send a notified deputy of suitable standing. A register of attendance is kept and any member absent for two consecutive meetings without explanation will be asked to give one. In cases of persistent non-attendance (three or more meetings) the member may be asked to resign. The Consultative Committee has 21 members (including the Chairman) appointed by the following organisations. Each organisation appoints representation as stated below
| Authority/Body | Representative |
| Chairman, Airport Consultative Committee | Richard Searle |
| Secretary, Airport Consultative Committee | Nigel Wallace |
| Vice Chair | Bob Smith |
| Treasurer | James Riach |
| South Ayrshire Council | Councillor Ian Cochrane Mike Newall |
| East Ayrshire Council | Councillor John McGhee |
| North Ayrshire Council | Councillor Tony Gurney Jim Millar |
| Dumfries and Galloway Council | Councillor Andrew Giusti |
| Police Scotland | Michael Oxnard |
| Strathclyde Partnership for Transport | Councillor Duncan Townson |
| Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce & Industry | TBC |
| Co-Opted Member | James McCall George Smith |
| Prestwick Community Council | TBC |
| Visit Scotland | Gordon Smith |
| GPA Passenger Representative | Dr William McAlpine |
| Spaceport | Mick O’Connor |
| General Aviation | Bob Logan |
| North Air | Ian Masterton |
| South West Trans | Douglas Kirkpatrick |
