I have been employed part time as a conservation officer at Mid Devon District Council since 2008. Prior to that I worked in planning authorities in Kent and since 1990 at Somerset County Council and West Somerset Council. My work includes advising owners and agents on all kinds of proposals relating to historic buildings and historic areas. Interventions to historic buildings and historic areas, of course, require a good understanding of how they have become what they are now and the context i.e. setting of proposed interventions. The nature of any intervention must therefore be based on this analysis which must also include the clients’ realistic and well considered aspirations. It is this analysis task and the consideration of options to achieve the most appropriate outcome that I regard as my central role. I feel that I share the architects/designers’ role in seeking to add something more to the project than the client first had in mind. I have a particular personal, as well as professional, interest in eco-friendly construction and in contemporary design and architecture.