Ourtoonjohnstone.co.uk News, photos and chat from Johnstone Town and Renfrewshire

You may not recognise his name or his face but, if you live or work in Paisley, you can be sure that Crawford Russell has had an impact on your life.

Crawford has been the head of planning at Renfrewshire Council for the last 13 years and was a senior official with the local authority for a further seven years prior to that.

And, in those 20 years, he has been involved in some of the major planning decisions made by Renfrewshire Council.

Expensive

The pedestrianisation of Paisley’s High Street, the introduction of an expensive programme of public art in the town centre and the re furbishment of Anchor Mills have all made the headlines over the years – and not all of them have made good reading.

Now 63-year-old Crawford has removed himself from the firing line and is looking forward to enjoying retirement.

Read the remainder of Alison Rennie’s story at the Express