Published: Wednesday, 13th January, 2010 11:11am

Tributes to former council convener

by Ally McGilvray

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TRIBUTES have been paid to the first civic leader of the council following his death this week.

It is understood Major Alastair Hewat OBE, the former convener of Scottish Borders Council, died of a heart attack after digging his car out of the snow near his home at Alerigg near Lilliesleaf. He was aged 76.

He was first elected as a councillor to the former Borders Regional Council in 1982 and held various high profile positions during his 21 years in office before he retired in 2003.

The ex-Army officer, who served around the world with the Kings Own Scottish Borderers, was appointed civic leader when the local authority introduced a new Executive structure in 2001.

Current council convener Alasdair Hutton revealed he was "deeply saddened" by the death of his predecessor and said he was "very highly respected" by all sides both inside and outside the council chamber.

"Alastair was very highly respected in all he did," he said. "He was regarded as a straightforward, old fashioned gentleman by all who worked with him in the Army, the ACF or local government.

"He set a high standard for integrity and honourable conduct in public life. It was a daunting task to be asked to follow in his footsteps as Convener after his retirement. He will be widely and sadly missed as a great servant of the Borders."

The former figurehead, who welcomed the Queen to the Borders during her Golden Jubilee tour in 2002, represented the former Scotts View ward on the council after moving to the region shortly before retiring from the regular army as a Major in 1970.

He began life at the Edinburgh Rudolph Steiner School which was evacuated in 1940 to Greenhill House outside Hownam where it remained until 1943. He left to join the Kings Own Scottish Borderers and served with them in many parts of the world.

Major Hewat was commissioned into the King's Own Scottish Borderers in 1954 and served with them through the Radfan campaign in Aden and in the Malayan Emergency. In the 1960s he moved to the Cameronians and retired from the Army in 1970 becoming Chief Executive Officer of the Army Cadet Force Borders Battalion in 1972.

After being elected to Borders Regional Council in 1982, he served on the Education, Planning and Development, Social Work, Roads and Transportation and Policy and Resources Committees. He also chaired the Roads Committee for four years and the Social Work Committee for two years until Scottish Borders Council was formed. He became Civic Head of the Council in 2001 and served until his retirement in 2003.

As a councillor, he represented Borders Regional Council on the Edinburgh Prison Visiting Committee. He was also the Council representative on the Tweed River Purification Board becoming Chairman and was Chairman of the Scottish River Purification Boards Association for which he was awarded the OBE for services to Conservation in 1996.

Councillor Hutton added: "Alastair was a long serving and loyal Borderer. He was a true public servant whose word people trusted. Although I had known Alastair for many years, I only had the pleasure of serving under him as a Councillor for a year but learned a great deal in that time."