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James Semple Kerr

James Semple Kerr AM
Born (1932-07-06)6 July 1932
Rockhampton, Queensland
Died 15 October 2014(2014-10-15) (aged 82)
Willoughby, New South Wales
Nationality Australian
Occupation Architectural historian
Known for The Conservation Plan

James Semple Kerr AM (6 July 1932 – 15 October 2014) was an architectural historian and heritage practitioner in Australia, who was prominent in the drafting of the original Burra Charter and its subsidiary documents, and developing standards for conservation practice, particularly in relation to conservation assessments and management reports such as conservation management plans. Kerr's influence in the conservation movement is most notable for his publication of the Conservation Plan, which has guided building conservation in Australia and around the world.

Kerr undertook a doctorate at the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, at the University of York in 1974. In 1978 he took up the position as Assistant Director at the Australian Heritage Commission in Canberra. He was also an assistant director of the National Trust of Australia (NSW).

Kerr was prominent in heritage conservation in Australia for over 40 years and was an early member of Australia ICOMOS, taking a major role in the formulation of the Burra Charter and its Guidelines. His publication in 1982 of The Conservation Plan: A guide to the preparation of conservation plans for places of European cultural significance was a landmark in Australian conservation. The Conservation Plan is widely used by heritage practitioners and property owners in Australia, and worldwide as a primary guide to the process of researching, documenting and managing historic places in accordance with the Burra Charter, through a logical process. First published by the National Trust of Australia (NSW) in 1982, it has subsequently been reprinted in expanded form over seven editions and twelve printing impressions. The concept has been adopted worldwide as a critical process for conserving heritage places, for example in the British Heritage Lottery Fund guidance note Conservation Plans for Historic Places.

For Kerr, "the seven deadly sins of heritage assessment were: the Timorous; the Inarticulate; the Aesthetes and Moralists; the Indiscriminate; the Egotists; the Slothful and the Muddled".


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