Tell Ministry of Housing who should replace sacked philosopher

Roger Scruton

Roger Scruton

Who should replace Roger Scruton as chair of the government’s Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission?

BD wants to hear your views.

The philosopher was sacked by housing secretary James Brokenshire yesterday over controversial comments on Islamophobia and antisemitism.

A Ministry of Housing (MHCLG) spokesman said: “A new chair will be appointed by the secretary of state, to take this important work forward, in due course.”

Given the commission’s schedule has already slipped it seems plausible to assume the MHCLG will promote one of Scruton’s fellow commissioners, or possibly one of the commission’s advisors. Who are the Scruton commissioners?

Send a message to the government by taking BD’s survey here:

The commissioners (with biographies supplied by MHCLG) are:

:: Gail Mayhew – A property consultant with experience in regeneration and place making. Ms Mayhew is currently advising Urban Catalyst in the regeneration of Purfleet in Thurrock. She is an advocate of community engagement in the planning process, assisting groups to change the design of major proposals to better reflect and fit in with their surroundings.

:: Mary Parsons – Currently the chair and a trustee of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), Ms Parsons has over 25 years’ experience working in the development and construction sector and is a group director of Places for People. Developments she is presently responsible for include a 10,000-home new community at Gilston in Hertfordshire, two new neighbourhoods on the Olympic Park and a new urban neighbourhood in Birmingham.

:: Nicholas Boys Smith – The founding director of Create Streets, which was set up to promote high-density, beautiful, street-based developments that involve the community. Mr Boys Smith has also led urban design projects and studies into the built environment, publishing a number of influential books on the role of design and architecture.

:: Kim Wilkie – A renowned landscape architect and environmental planner, Mr Wilkie has sat on several bodies advising on design and beauty – including the mayor of London’s public realm advisory group and the Royal Parks advisory board. He also holds an honorary fellowship at the RIBA and is currently leading the redesign of the Natural History Museum’s historic grounds.

The advisors are:

Sunand Prasad, co-founder of Penoyre & Prasad and a former president of the RIBA.

Paul Monaghan, director of AHMM and a Design Council trustee.

Peter Studdert, a trained architect and planner and chair of the quality review panels for the LLDC and Haringey council.

Ben Bolgar, senior director of the Prince’s Foundation.

Stephen Stone, chief executive of developer Crest Nicholson

Fiona Reynolds, master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and former director general of the National Trust.

Adrian Penfold, head of planning at British Land

Yolande Barnes, professor of real estate at UCL and former director of research at Savills

Patrick James, founder of the Landscape Agency

>> Also read: Ugly comments get Scruton sacked from Building Beautiful commission

>> Also read: Scruton names his ‘Building Beautiful’ commissioners

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