C O N T E X T 1 4 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 55 Welcome to new members The following members were voted in at the September 2015 council meeting.Welcome to you all. Full Members Lauren Ayers (LO) Steve Berry (WA) David English (LO) Elaine Gray (NO) Andrea Levin (LO) Duncan Philips (SE) Iain Rhind (LO) RoryWilson (WA) Associate Louisa Davidson (WM) Affiliates Jason Andrijasevic (LO) Ellie Atherton (LO) Megan Atkinson (NW) Nick Austen-Smith (LO) Trevor Barfoot (SW) Sophia Bix (LO) Mark Bradburn (WA) Gary Butler (LO) Veronica Cassin (LO) Leeanne Chambers (NI) Robyn Clinch (OV) James Cox (YO) Oonagh Cranley (NO) Malcolm Dickson (LO) Claire Easton (YO) Philip Gaches (EM) Nathan Goss (WA) Chris Han (NW) Elizabeth Heywood (NW) Louise Hudspith (NO) Katy Hunter (SC) Robert Lister (NW) Judith Livesey (LO) Anthony Marinos (SW) Amanda Marshall (YO) Emma McBurney (NI) New member profile Matthew McDade (EA) John Raphael Miminas (LO) John Mullen (SW) Donald Murphy (NW) Mark O’Leary (SW) John O’Sullivan (LO) Ian Parsons (SC) Esther RobinsonWild (LO) Anne Schmidt (YO) Jessica Scott (SC) Nicole Sutton (LO) Stacey Sykes (NW) Philip Taylor (LO) Thomas Thurlow (SW) Jane Tricker (EM) Eve van der Steen (SW) Firas Witwit (SE) Wong ChunWan (OV) Duncan Philips has been voted a full member of the IHBC. A chartered building surveyor, he runs his own business, Listed Building Surveys. His work involves the survey of listed buildings, for which he travels throughout England and Wales. This is largely a funding matter. Perhaps if a fee were payable for an application for listed building consent, in the same way that fees are payable for planning permission and building regulations consent, money would be available for more conservation officers. I also feel strongly that there is a need for more of the old apprenticeship training schemes for the trades that are needed in building conservation.Who is going to be looking after these buildings 50 years from now? We need to be planning ahead. I want to get more involved with IHBC, and am very keen to encourage and promote the highest standards of building conservation philosophy and practice. The same applies to my own surveying profession. There is a lot that can be done to educate less experienced surveyors who undertake mortgage valuations and surveys of old buildings. I am frustrated that I still see mortgage valuations done on old buildings that conclude with the requirement for ‘timber and damp inspections’, which invariably lead to inappropriate remedial damp treatments without any consideration for the consequences of what has been done. After I qualified, I worked for the National Trust for a couple of years before starting my own business. I am still here 27 years later. I do not actually view my work as a job. It is genuinely a privilege to be paid to see these very special buildings.Whether they are grand country houses or modest workers’ cottages, the need is the same. My clients need experienced conservation advice and opinions on how to look after their property. From my work I can see that building conservation is approaching a time when some aspects need to change. Local authority conservation officers are under immense pressure. I see this everywhere. There is a vivid shortage of building conservation skills in some areas. Many of the mistakes made with previous repairs, for example with the use of cement instead of lime, are probably not deliberate but simply derive from the lack of skills and local knowledge at the time.
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