Directors
We are all excited about living in a Cohousing development in Halton and have been meeting regularly and working hard to make it happen.
The current directors of the project are:
Cllr Chris Coates, Company Secretary and Build Director
Chris spent 20 years involved in co-operative housing before moving to Lancaster where he has worked as a construction project manager for community based building projects. He is a councillor on both the City and County Councils. Chris is a partner in Greenbuilt, an Eco-Building Consultancy and Project Management Partnership. He is a former Chair of the Walter Segal Self Build Trust and an editor of Diggers & Dreamers, a guide to communal living in Britain.
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Kathy Bashford, Membership Director
Kathy's work over the last few years has involved promoting a sustainable lifestyle; she is currently a Bike It Officer for Sustrans which involves promoting cycling in schools. Previously she did a PhD and postdoctoral fellowship in Environmental Science. She has also worked for Lancashire Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency and Lancaster University. She became interested in cohousing whilst doing her fellowship in Berkeley, California where the model is popular.
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Luke Mills, Finance Director
Luke and his family moved from Hampshire in 2007 to take a more active role in the project. He is responsible for all aspects of the financial management, whilst also home educating Fergal and Lily. Previously he worked with leading IT consultancies across a wide range of business sectors.
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Huw Johnson, Operations Director
Huw has 15 years industrial experience in Quality Management, Health & Safety Management, people management and IT in both the food and engineering sectors. He is currently splitting his time between working for the project and looking after two young daughters.
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Fiona Frank, Mill Development Director
Fiona worked for many years at Lancaster University. She co-founded and directed the Workplace Basic Skills Network, and managed projects and funding streams from several government departments, Learning and Skills Councils and Regional Development Agencies, including the £1,000,000 DfES funded Building Basic Skills in the Workplace project. She 'downsized' in 2004 to work part time coordinating learning programmes for older people and to undertake a part time PhD, which she completed recently. She is committed to ensuring that the Mill becomes a place to work where its occupants feel connected and can exchange mutual support and services.
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Pete Bailey, Community Director
Pete put himself forward as a director when volunteers were called for and everyone else took one step back. His qualifications for the role mainly stem from having seen a lot of water pass under Lancaster Cohousing's bridge since he joined in 2006. His particular interest is in how people interact, and he has been helping develop group processes for acheiving consensus, resolving difficult issues and encouraging participation. His aim is that business gets done efficiently and with respect for the diversity within the group, and that even when members disagree passionately it is done with trust and an understanding that "the best outcome is the one which happens".
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Jan Maskell, Chair & Process Director
Jan has experience in building design and has been working as an Occupational Psychologist for the last 10 years where she works with individuals and organisations to help them to improve their management performance, and has a special interest in models and methods for developing project work, project managers and project partners. She has worked with organisations in the private, public and not for profit sectors, and is a member of the British Psychological Society, a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development and an Associate of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.
^ topIn addition to the directors, we have contracted a project manager, who like the directors is a group member:
Jonathan Sear, Project Manager
Jon was a founding Director of Lancaster Cohousing and works as a consultant on environment and transport policy as well as project management. During the key phases of project development he is spending most of his time working for Lancaster Cohousing , and he is the key contact point for the rest of the Professional Team. Jon is a former Green County Councillor and an accredited Domestic Energy Assessor. Jon acted as the client project manager for the new build Marsh Community Centre during the planning and construction phases of the project. Previously he worked for the Campaign to Protect Rural England on land-use planning and housing issues. Jon has an ecology degree and takes a practical interest in sustainable construction. He is a member of Friends of the Earth's Regional Advisory Group.
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