Philip McKay

Head of Road & Infrastructure, Environment & Infrastructure Services, Aberdeenshire Council

Philip McKay is Head of Roads and Infrastructure at Aberdeenshire Council, where he leads one of Scotland’s largest and most diverse infrastructure portfolios, including roads, bridges, street lighting, flooding, coastal assets, harbours, quarries and fleet services. Responsible for the stewardship of assets valued at around £5.9 billion, he oversees strategic investment, asset management, service transformation and frontline operational delivery across a network serving communities throughout Aberdeenshire.

In addition to his local authority role, Philip serves as Vice Chair of the Scottish Collaboration of Transportation Specialists (SCOTS) helping to shape national policy, collaboration and best practice across Scotland’s roads and transportation sector. Through SCOTS, he works closely with local authorities, Transport Scotland and industry partners on issues including asset management, network resilience, public service reform and the future development of Scotland’s transport infrastructure.

My Speaker Sessions

Wednesday 25 November 2026

10:15

Case Study: Back to Black - Aberdeenshire's Approach to Winter Readiness and Climate Resilience

10:15 - 10:35

Aberdeenshire manages one of Scotland's longest and most exposed road networks and has developed a distinctive resilience model in response. This session sets out how the council moved from reactive response to planned readiness, using real winter incidents to build a repeatable framework for future seasons.

  • The "back to black" approach: shifting from reactive response to structured recovery and planned readiness 
  • Building a focused winter resilience plan to keep towns connected during closures caused by snow and flooding 
  • Data-driven response in practice: triaging welfare calls, using citizen-submitted geolocated photos and automated GIS mapping to close data gaps and speed up incident response
  • Practical lessons including rescheduling driver hours to protect fleet capacity, and mobilising community and volunteer support during disruption

Speakers