To do your job you will need head and heart together. The well- being we derive from our surroundings often rests in things which lie beyond the measures of accountancy. Business disciplines are useful in government, but remember that experiences which enrich daily lives are not easily reducible to figures in business plans. There are a few points I would like you to bear in mind as you start your new job. It is the collective values of typical local buildings and landscapes which invest different parts of Britain with their personality.
Conservation is about what is characteristic as well as what is exceptional.
Achieving this calls for a national strategy, an understanding public, and the continuing presence of local organisations which can provide the necessary information and guidance. Today, the strategy is missing, many people imagine that conservation is some sort of nuisance, and local government is being pressured to do more with less. It also requires experienced county archaeologists and conservation officers, and good back-up from bodies like English Heritage and the Royal Commissions. All these things have been weakened by curtailed funding and reorganisation. We can all be more efficient - but there comes a point where the search for marginal efficiencies begins to undermine the primary business.