Zoo chairman Emslie is told to quit after confidence vote

Published on Thursday 12 May 2011 23:59

THE chairman of Edinburgh Zoo operator the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has been told he will have to quit his post as it was revealed that a new chief executive for the zoo had still not been appointed.

Around 500 members of the RZSS packed a conference room in Murrayfield Stadium at a special emergency meeting of the Society and voted, almost unanimously, that they had no confidence in Donald Emslie's ability to continue in his position.

However a second motion of no confidence in the whole board, was defeated by 253 votes to 157.

The decision to axe Mr Emslie came after almost two hours of debate among members of the RZSS and its board over the recent management problems at the zoo and the damage done to the organisation's reputation.

The last two months have seen the suspension of the chief operating officer Gary Wilson and the director of animals, conservation and education, Iain Valentine while inquiries into anonymous allegations against the two men were carried out by the board.

Meanwhile a third senior member of staff, director of development Anthony McReavy, was sacked, the honorary treasurer Max Gaunt resigned, and leaked board meeting minutes suggested the zoo could be leased to a Spanish theme park operator.

Mr Emslie, who has been acting as executive chair in recent months to help manage the zoo, attempted to reassure members that the Spanish deal was "no longer on the table", that the anonymous allegations against Mr Wilson were "untrue" and that there was no indication the troubles would affect the arrival of two pandas from China later in the year.

But anger erupted when he announced that a new "interim" chief executive of the zoo was yet to be appointed, with furious members concerned about a continued lack of leadership and commitment if the position wasn't filled permanently.

There has been no official chief executive since the retiral of David Windmill last November.

However, while there were pleas for both no confidence motions to be carried - especially from former Liberal Democrat MP for Edinbugh West, John Barrett - only the vote on Mr Emslie's position was agreed.

After the vote Mr Emslie said he was "disappointed that it had come to this"."I have listened very carefully to what the members have said and I have to take cognisance of that but I have duties as a trustee under charities legislation so I will talk to the board about what happens next."

John Spence, president of the RZSS, who chaired the meeting, added: "There are going to be tighter financial controls, as the inquiry has meant reviewing the accounts as far back as 2002 so any forensic examination is going to show that things can be done better.And I do believe that communication with members will be greatly improved."