Historic Buildings Council Chair Appointment For Joseph Birt
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons MLA, has announced the appointment of Joseph Birt as the Chair of the Historic Buildings Council (HBC), from 1 February 2025 to 31 January 2028.
Joseph Birt is the Technical Director at FRSNI (Fire Risk Solutions Northern Ireland).
He has considerable experience of building conservation methods both within Local Authority building control through his roles in the legacy Down District Council and in Newry Mourne and Down District Council and in the private sector.
He was the global President of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers and brings an in-depth understanding of the legislation which applies to the wider built environment and the conservation sector to this role.
Previously Joseph served as Member on the Association Council from 2013 to 2016 and does not currently hold any other public appointments and has not undertaken any political activity in the past five years.
HBC is an Advisory Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Department for Communities constituted under Section 198 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.
The aim of HBC is to provide independent advice to the Department on the listing of buildings, the general state of listed buildings and other matters relating to their preservation.
The Chair position attracts no remuneration, however, there is a provision for out-of-pocket expenses.
This appointment has been made in accordance with the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland’s (CPA NI) Code of Practice.
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, CPA NI requires the political activity of all appointees to be published.
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