TRIBUTES have been paid to a community councillor who passed away earlier this year.

Herbert Coutts was a member of Dunbar Community Council for 15 years, right up until his death on April 11 following a short illness.

The group held its AGM last month, where Pippa Swan, chairwoman, outlined the organisation’s activities over the last 12 months.

Among the first topics highlighted was Mr Coutts’ death at the age of 78.

She said that the group had been “fortunate” to have the former director of culture and leisure at Edinburgh Council.

Mrs Swan said: “Herbert was a stickler for order and kept us all on our toes. His passion for history and culture will be remembered most recently in Dunbar for his work on the renovation of the war memorial and for the inclusion of missing names from this town monument.

“His proposal that Lauderdale Park be protected from any future risk of development has been accepted by East Lothian Council and the park will, consequently, remain a place for relaxation and leisure for future generations as a designated Field in Trust.”

Mr Coutts lived in the town with his wife Angela and joined the community council in 2007 after Jacquie Bell, now the group’s secretary, was elected to East Lothian Council.

Working in Edinburgh, he was tasked with managing the city’s museums and, within two years, visitor numbers had doubled.

In the role of city curator, a post he held for 25 years, Mr Coutts brought a number of exhibitions to Edinburgh.

Among the popular attractions were The Emperor’s Warriors (1985), featuring life-sized terracotta figures from the burial enclosure of the first Emperor of China; Gold of the Pharaohs (1988), a collection of 21st dynasty gold antiquities including the funeral mask of King Psusennes I; Dinosaurs Alive! (1990), an exhibit of robotic dinosaur reconstructions; and The Art of Star Wars (2002), which boasted costumes and preparatory artwork from the smash-hit film series.