Dear fellow TAG Member
You will be receiving an invitation to stand for a position on the TAG committee including that of chairman.
I am very concerned about the way the chairman and the committee are running TAG. It is clearly not being run in favour of the essential aims of TAG which are to promote traditional architecture in general and to promote members’ work in particular
The crucial document in the minutes of the recent AGM you have just received is the Treasurer’s report for 2022 for this neatly summarises everything that is wrong
All of the income of £8902 mainly from members’ subscriptions was spent plus a little more.
According to the breakdown, £7342 was spent on ceremonies, committee dinner, prizes and parties. In other words, 82% of expenditure went on what can be loosely called “wining and dining”
Nothing was spent on directly promoting traditional architecture and the work of members which are surely the prime aims of TAG
I sent an email to the chairman Mark Wilson Jones, on Wednesday, 14th June, the day before the AGM expressing my misgivings and informing him I intended to stand for chairman on a platform of furthering traditional architecture. Mark Wilson Jones was the only one whom I informed of my intention. That was a mistake
His response to this was shabby and unworthy. He instructed the acting AGM chairman to be [he did not show up at the AGM himself] to add into the agenda a vote excluding members who live outside the UK from standing for any posts. This was passed
I live in France and the real reason for this vote was to eliminate me as a contesting candidate. That is clear beyond doubt from the timing. This would not of course be apparent to the attendees.
I served as communications secretary to TAG over many years, during the dynamic chairmanship of Alireza Sagharchi and all the time I was living in France as now. I never missed a committee meeting or AGM and minuted them all.
I attended all the splendid public debates we held with the exception of one
So the idea that living in France is any kind of barrier to fulfilling the obligations of a committee member is nonsense. I have proved that and the longer serving members of the committee well know that
London is more accessible from Toulouse, where I live, than many parts of the UK
In view of the waste of money on “wining and dining” and the lack of any attempt to promote traditional architecture, I hope another member of TAG, perhaps you, will come forward to challenge the incumbent chairman.
Ask yourself what TAG does for you as a member. What contact do you have with it? How well is your practice promoted on the TAG website – if at all?
I formulated a range of ideas to take TAG to the next level and really serve its members. If you are interested I would be pleased to share these
The forthcoming elections are a crucial moment for TAG
You must submit your candidacy before midnight of Friday, 23rd June 2023
We desperately need fresh blood
Regards
Peter Kellow
peterkellow@peterkellowarchitecture.com
00 33 (0) 6 61 38 22 67
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