About Us

START is managed on a day-to-day basis by a board of directors (see below) elected by the original steering committee. One third of the group will stand down at each of the next three AGMs and it will be up to the voting members to re-elect them or elect new members to replace them. From then on, all directors will be elected by the members of the three-year terms, with a maximum of nine consecutive years.

Lucy Petrie (chair)

Qualified accountant with experience in charity and local government sectors as well as in the farming community. Previous chair of Stedham with Iping Parish council.

Simon Ward (joint vice-chair)

Retired chartered surveyor, land agent and estate manager. Initiated and developed four separate housing developments at West Dean in partnership with Hastoe Housing to construct a total of 18 affordable housing units.

Charlotte Homan (joint vice-chair)

Charlotte lives in Trotton and has just completed a masters degree in rural estate and land management while working for a creative design company, assisting in managing projects through design, planning, design process and interior finish stages.

Max Harwood

Chair of Rogate Parish council. Forty plus years in large insurance companies including negotiating and implementing complex agreements, diplomacy, legal understanding, contract claims handling, planning and risk management. Member of the Rogate parish council and governor of Rogate C of E primary school.

Mairi Rennie (secretary)

English lecturer and principal, and museum director in UK and USA, with additional experience in recruitment, management, reviews, international conferences, exhibitions and other events as well as fundraising. Founder and curator of Rogate Heritage Centre and member of the Rogate parish council.