32 C O N T E X T 8 8 : M A R C H 2 0 0 5 Vox pop Caroline Davison is conservation officer with Norfolk County Council Who has been your greatest inspiration? In life, my older brother and sisters. Regarding building conservation, probably my colleague Stephen Heywood, who is an inveterate teacher. What has been your best idea? Working three days a week. What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? A novelist. My novel The Pleasure Garden is being published by Piatkus in the autumn. How do you reply when at a party someone asks you what you do? ‘Conservation officer’, followed by ‘that’s old buildings, not wildlife and trees.’ What is the biggest frustration in your job? Lack of funding. What would you like to be doing in five years time? Working on environmentally sustainable projects which combine traditional materials and practice with modern design. Which is your favourite building? There are so many. For sentimental reasons, Tea Caddy Cottage, a Grade II cottage ornée at Higham on the Suffolk/ Essex border, where I lived as a student. Your favourite place? Any hilltop with a view. Your favourite book? Orlando by VirginiaWoolf. What do you do in your spare time? Sing, garden, write, and play with my son. Which organisations are you a member of? IHBC, National Trust. Which one issue would you particularly like the IHBC to campaign on? Removal of permitted development rights in conservation areas regarding changes to windows and doors. Diverse, professional and qualified Membership notes Over the past few weeks I have been assembling some statistics on IHBC membership, from data current in January 2005. The membership now totals 1,468, including 67 retired members, 11 part-time members and some 40 student concessions. Membership structure is 1,195 members, 233 affiliates and 40 associates. By employment there are 667 local authority employees and 302 private consultants. A further 33 are employed in education, 20 by trusts, and the national conservation bodies English Heritage, Cadw and Historic Scotland together account for 92 members. It is estimated from job titles that upwards of 450 of the local authority members fill roles as conservation officers, with managers, policy officers, and others accounting for the rest. Remaining records include a total of 134 retired people and students. This leaves around 200 members for whom there is no data. Some of these are accounted for by unemployment and long-term sickness. In terms of qualifications, we have 477 members qualified as planners, 318 as architects, 120 as surveyors and 49 archaeologists. There are 15 civil and structural engineers, and one state registered nurse who serves on a preservation trust. At least 578 members have a degree or diploma in conservation-related disciplines. Twenty have heritage management qualifications, 61 have qualifications in urban design, and seven have LLB legal qualifications. Many degrees are unqualified and so do not form part of the data studied. Many members have dual or multiple qualifications. There are 477 IHBC members who are members or fellows of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), 256 of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and a further 60 are registered architects. Seven are members of the British Institute of Architectural Technologists (BIAT), and 33 of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). We have 106 members and fellows of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), 40 members of the Institute of Field Archaeologists (IFA) and 37 Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA). The exercise is partly incomplete due to lack of data on the current database regarding some qualifications. However, the data helps the institute see its membership in some detail, and gives ammunition to answer critics who regard us as unprofessional and unqualified. At this time of year we are again busy with arranging for the payment of subscriptions for 2005. A great majority of members now pay by direct debit, but some still have not cancelled the previous standing orders and payments to accounts no longer used.We are about to close these old accounts. It is up to you to ensure that you are not paying anything into them now. Please consider paying by direct debit if you do not already. It is covered by a guarantee offering protection from errors by us or your bank and it saves the institute administrative time and ultimately cost. Forms are available from the office. If you are claiming reduced membership as a concession, this needs to be renewed for this year now. Forms were sent out some time ago and must be returned if you are to avoid paying full membership rates for the coming year. You are eligible for a concession if you are working less than half time or are retired, unemployed, or in full-time education. Other reasons are considered by council from time to time. Mike Lea, [email protected]
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