I joined the Society when I moved to Faversham in 2016, and quickly became involved as a volunteer - taking Board minutes and helping out with the Society’s campaigns, including our opposition to the proposed Cleve Hill solar power station. I became a Board member in June 2019, and as well as continuing to take minutes, I am getting more actively involved in the Society’s work. My particular areas of interest are our campaigns, promoting the cultural heritage of Faversham to residents and visitors alike, and ensuring the Society is in a sustainable position to continue its vital work for the future. 

Jonathan is a conservation architect and leads on the maintenance of Faversham's historic buildings.

I have been a member of the Society for about 20 years. I first started as a museum guide on Saturday mornings then I moved to work in the V.I.C. and then on to the bookshop where most of my time is now spent researching the value of the books. I am also a member of the IT team.

From 1998 to 2000 I was a trustee/director for a charity in Medway, where my time was spent calculating the savings to the local government of every jobseeker getting work.

I gained a working knowledge of finance and statistics whilst working for the Central Statistical Office and Ministry of Defence for over 20 years.

I wrote my first computer program in September 1971 and been working on computers ever since. I am now embarking on a course to improve my knowledge of Apple computer systems.

Although I live in Sittingbourne I spent a great deal of my time in Faversham and want to help to improve the service that the Society gives to the town.

I am also a member of three transport groups, two for rail and one for buses and I an very interested in promoting the bus and rail service.

Matthew is an independent consultant, chair of the Advisory Board of the Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at the University of Kent, and a trustee of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.  As former Director of Conservation at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), he was responsible for driving ZSL’s field conservation programmes in more than 50 countries worldwide.  Matthew joined ZSL following a 30-year career with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), where he served as Chief Executive for WCS Europe, having previously overseen in-country teams in Madagascar – where he helped to create Masoala and Sahamalaza/Iles Radama National Parks – and Congo, where he helped to establish Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park and co-managed a capacity-building programme for protected area staff.

I have lived in Faversham since 1977, in the same half square mile. When I graduated the only work I could find in adult education was in Kent. If I had not found, and fallen in love with, Faversham, I would have moved back north. I did move to Leeds and Manchester, but only for work, commuting weekly by rail. In 2014 Arthur Percival asked me to consider joining the Board, and after 37 years of having enjoyed the benefits of the Faversham Society’s work conserving the best of Faversham I could not see how I could reasonably decline. I was elected to the Board in April 2014 and to the Chair in June 2016. With close to 1,000 members and 250 volunteers there is much to do to keep the many activities of the Society going. Faversham is facing as much change now as it did with the coming of the railway and we are heavily involved with the planning of infrastructure, housing and traffic management. 

Find out more about my activities in Faversham and internationally ....

I have been a practising Accountant in Faversham for the past 36 years, and the Honorary Treasurer of the Society for the past 13 years. I hope to continue to look after the financial affairs of the Society for the foreseeable future.

I am keenly interested in supporting the work of the Society in conserving our heritage and making it accessible to both local people and to visitors to the town. However we live in turbulent times, and I would like to help the Society ensure that the special character of the town and the people who live here are sustained in the face of unprecedented change.

I bring to the Board a comprehensive working knowledge of strategy and policy development in local and central government and most particularly in the NHS. In consultancy roles I have direct experience of managing large scale (and often contentious!) change through the engagement of public and private stakeholders and the alignment of their interests.

My experience includes eight years as a visiting professor at Bayes Business School - City, University of London and four years as a Non-Executive Director of the South East Coast Ambulance Trust (SECAmb). I was a founding trustee of the Pubic Management Foundation and the co-founder of The Realisation Collaborative. I am currently a trustee on the board of Horsebridge Arts in Whitstable and a trustee of the Faversham Community Land Trust. In addition to being a member of the Faversham Society’s board, I am an active member of its Environment Committee.

Most of my career has been in Higher and Further Education as a Professor of Physics and most recently as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent. I have lived in Faversham since 2011 and been a Trustee of the Faversham Society since 2018. I am proud to be involved with such a vibrant amenity society at the heart of a town with a strong sense of identity and community. I am passionate about the importance of educational opportunities at all levels from schools to universities and for ensuring there are leisure and employment opportunities for young people in Faversham. I am particularly interested in the future of Faversham Creek and am a Patron of the Faversham Creek Trust, Chair of the Faversham and Oare Heritage Harbour Group and a member of the Faversham Future Forum.

I have been actively involved with the work of the Faversham Society for most of my life from the restoration of Chart Mills in 1969 with my father Peter Salmon, uncle Jack Salmon and with Andrew Osborne and Arthur Percival. I also represented the Society at Kent Federation of Amenity Societies conferences with Peter Salmon. I have been on the Faversham Society Council and then the Board since 2000.

I have been a member of the Planning Committee since 1987 and Chair since 2000. As Chartered Town Planner with over 30 years’ experience, I have the expertise to make representations on behalf of the Society on planning applications and planning documents at all levels. I represented the Faversham Society successfully at the Public Inquiry on footpath ZF5 in 2014. I was a founder member of the Steering Group for the Creek Neighbourhood Plan and worked on drafting the plan and organising the public consultation. I prepared the Basic Conditions Paper and Consultation Statement for the Plan, the latter of which received specific commendation by the Inspector. I also co-authored the Undesignated Heritage Paper which extended protection to heritage assets not covered by listing. I was also involved in drafting the initial comments from the Society on the Cleve Hill Solar Power Station.

I have been volunteering for the Faversham Society since February 2020. Prior to that I served as the Secretary of the Bromley Civic Society for 7 years, supporting the work of the Chair, preparing papers for the AGM, running events such as historical walks and updating the website and social media platforms.

I am a lecturer at a London university specialising in digital education, online learning and developing digital and information literacy skills. Before that I worked for 15 years as a copyright advisor and have a particular interest in the open licensing of cultural heritage and educational resources.

I offer expertise to the Society in education-related projects particularly in relation to using new technologies to engage the community. I am an experienced writer and speaker and my first degree was in history. I am also a qualified librarian with strong links to those works in the library and archive sector as well as in higher education. I edited a professional journal for several years and have a solid understanding of publishing, digitisation and copyright issues. Most importantly, I love Faversham and its wonderful people and history and I am honoured to serve on the board.

MOTIVATION
Tim Stonor has lived in Faversham - and been a member of the Faversham Society - since 2001. He has been involved in projects to improve the town’s streets and public spaces, working as a member of community groups (20’s Plenty Community Working Group, Friends of the Westbrook), as an advisor to the Town Council (20’s Plenty, Neighbourhood Plan, Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan) and as a consultant to the Duchy of Cornwall. He has been a trustee of the Faversham Society since 2016 and is a member of the Environment Committee.

ATTRIBUTES
Tim is an internationally practising architect and urban planner who has pioneered the application of sciencebased urban modelling methods to create humanfocused visions for the future of places. He is Managing Director of the strategic consulting firm Space Syntax Limited, which he founded in 1996. He is a Visiting Professor at University College London and a  founding member of The Academy of Urbanism. 

External positions
2021- Ambassador, Design Council
2018- Deputy Chair, Design Council
2018- Advisory Board Member, Norman Foster Foundation
2017- Senior International Advisor, China Urban and Rural Construction Industry Union
2016- Trustee, The Faversham Society
2016- Liveryman, The Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects2015- Trustee, The Design Council
2013-15 Member, Lead Expert Group on The Future of Cities, Government Office for Science
2011- Visiting Professor, the Bartlett, University College London
2011-17 Member, Design Council CABE National Design Review Panel
2009-16 Advocate, Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
2008-10 Member, CABE Crossrail Design Panel
2008-10 & 2011-20 Director, The Academy of Urbanism
2008- Member, Expert Advisory Panel, Walk England
2008- Director, London Promenade Company
2007-10 Member, CABE National Design Review Panel (extended term)
2006- Founder Member, The Academy of Urbanism
2005-09 Member, Health & the Built Environment Steering Group, NICE
2004-07 Member, CABE National Design Review Panel
2003-11 Member, NHS National Design Review Panel
2002-04 Member, South East of England Design Panel
1996- Founding Director, Morrison Brink Stonor architects

Awards
2010-11 Lincoln Loeb Fellowship, Harvard University
2010-11 Loeb Fellowship, Harvard University
2006 Honorary Senior Lecturer, the Bartlett UCL
2005 Member, Royal Town Planning Institute
2004 Fellow, Royal Society of Arts
2000 Honorary Lecturer, the Bartlett, UCL
1996 Member, RIBA

Education
1995 RIBA Part 3 examination, the Bartlett, UCL
1994 Diploma in Architecture (Distinction), Oxford Brookes University
1991 MSc in Advanced Architectural Studies (Distinction), the Bartlett, UCL
1989 BSc (Hons) in Architecture, UCL

As a retired civil engineer and specialist in transport research, he has a particular interest in how Faversham will cope with the growing pressure of housing development, and in the highway authority’s strategy for protecting and enhancing the Town’s heritage in the face of the travel demand that it will generate.  In pursuing this and other related themes, he has co-organized and presented material at four members’ meetings on transport matters in the area, is managing a project for measuring traffic pollution at various sites around the Town, and continues to engage with our local authorities at a technical level to ensure the Society is well placed to make its case.  He also supports collaboration with the Creek Trust to promote replacement of the swing bridge as the key step towards renewing the Town’s waterway as a commercial, recreational and environmental resource.