Members want trust to be more vocal on conservation issues

The National Trust for Scotland should shout louder on heritage issues according to a survey held ahead of its Annual General Meeting on 4 October.

The conservation charity, which has 320,000 members and cares for more than 100 sites, found 84% of those surveyed wanted it to be a more "active advocate for heritage and conservation".

Almost 1,000 people, mainly trust members, took part in the online poll which asked about the future focus of the organisation.

A round up of the findings will be presented to the charity’s AGM on Saturday, as work begins to set out its new five year strategy.

Director for strategic development Pete Selman said: “This the starting point for the trust mapping out its next strategy which will take us to 2022.

The survey gives us some interesting insights into where our members feel we should be focusing our efforts

“The survey gives us some interesting insights into where our members feel we should be focusing our efforts over that period.

“There’s a clear call for the trust to be more vocal about heritage and conservation issues.

"We have already stepped up our efforts in that area over the last few years – we’ve worked with the sector to shape some critical policies and hosted a conference which considered whether a national collection approach for heritage sites would work for Scotland.

Selmen said the survey presented a strong message about communities and some interesting ideas to explore – an area that needed careful thought, especially as in respect to land reform.

“We hope that these views will fortify the trust and ensure it sustains for another eighty years,” he added.