The man who has been the driving force behind the development of the proposed Aberdeen by-pass has been appointed director of Nestrans, the regional transport partnership for Aberdeen City and Shire Derick Murray, managing agent for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) project, succeeds Peter Cockhead, who is retiring this summer.

Mr Murray will head up Nestrans' five-strong team as it drives forward the partnership's recently-completed Regional Transport Strategy to 2021.