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Meet The Team

  • Harvey Dowdy Durham City Vision Director, Harvey Dowdy, is responsible for leadership of the DCV delivery team.  She manages both internal and external partner and stakeholder relationships.  Harvey works with and reports to the DCV Board. Joining the team in June 2007, Harvey came to Durham City Vision from regional development agency One North East, where she worked as a regeneration specialist focusing upon regeneration. Harvey has an extensive background as a Chartered Surveyor working in commercial property in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Before joining One North East, she worked for North of England Civic Trust, where she was responsible for delivering the successful restoration of the historic Gayle Mill, in Wensleydale, which featured in a TV vote on the BBC's Restoration programme. She previously worked as a commercial property specialist and developer for English Heritage, the National Trust, the City of York and a wide range of institutional investors as a commercial property manager and developer. Born in London, Harvey is a graduate of University College London and Reading University, Chartered Surveyor and fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  
  • Kathryn Watson In her role as Technical Support Officer, Kathryn gives technical support to the team and enables the effective delivery of associated projects.Kathryn was born in Chester-le-Street, educated in Durham, and returned to the county after graduating in Textile Management at Leeds University. She then worked at ...instore, in Huddersfield, where she produced the company magazine for 300 stores, before joining the City of Durham Council as a Technical Support Officer in the Heritage and Design team, with specific responsibility for trees in Conservation Areas. Kathryn joined the Durham City Vision team in June 2007.
  • Michael Hurlow Michael is Project Manager (Heritage and Design), and deals with design, conservation and planning input into key projects.   He was formerly Heritage and Design Manager with the City of Durham and has worked as a manager and practioner in physical and social regeneration for over 30 years.He is a Chartered Landscape Architect and affiliate of the IHBC and has been involved in substantial regeneration projects and conservation work in Birmingham, the Black Country, Exeter and Glasgow.      
  • Clare James Clare is a project manager for Durham City Vision and responsible for the delivery of major regeneration schemes.Previously Clare was employed by Faithful+Gould, British Waterways and other engineering consultancies where she had roles in project management as well as civil engineering design, business development and asset management.Clare has been a member of the Association for Project Managers for six years and is also a PRINCE 2 Practitioner. She is also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
  • Ross De'Ath Ross De'Ath, a local graduate, joined Durham City Vision from international construction consultancy, Bovis Lend Lease, as an assistant project manager in 2010.   Ross has gained a wide range of project management experience working for a diverse range of clients such as Network Rail and HSBC. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Building (MCIOB) and a registered PRINCE 2 Practitioner.Ross will initially be working on the Heart of the City project as construction starts on site, alongside Project Manager Clare James 
  • Ann Deary Francis Ann Deary joined the Durham City Vision team in 2008 as Environment Manager working predominantly on projects along the 12 mile stretch of the River wear between Sunderland Bridge and Finchale Abbey. Ann spends most of her time meeting landowners, volunteers, community groups and individuals with whom she will be working on projects in the future.Formerly Community liaison officer for Northumberland's Greening for Growth initiative, Ann has worked on a range of outdoor community initiatives. While with Blyth Valley Borough Council from 1998-2001, she was responsible for establishing the Friends of Holywell Dene and managing the CONE community nature conservation programme.
  • Seif El Rashidi Seif El Rashidi's has a wealth of experience in conservation and heritage management, currently tasked with co-ordinating plans for the World Heritage Site of Durham's Castle and Cathedral. This includes implementing the World Heritage Site Management Plan, a proposal designed to maximise the Palace Green Site's potential as a historical and educational resource for its local community and many visitors. Before taking up this role, Seif was Head of Urban Planning for the Aga Khan Trust, in charge of implementing a conservation plan for the World Heritage Site of Historic Cairo. He also worked to set up a museum about the history of Cairo, coordinating a number of partner organizations and overseeing fundraising and public awareness. Cairo born and bred, Seif vowed to return to the UK after having studied for a Masters degree at the London School of Economics in 2001.