Obituary: Michael John Kerry

Posted on: 31 July 2025 by Words by Dr Peter Brown, Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool in Community

8 December 1946 - 12 April 2025

It has been an honour and privilege to have been asked to put together an obituary in celebration of the life of Mike Kerry.

I have been particularly grateful to Mike’s widow Lorelei for supplying a copy of the eulogy that was delivered at Mike’s funeral by his good friend Geoffrey Walker, together with tributes compiled by the Australian equivalent of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).

University life

Mike graduated from the University of Liverpool in 1968 with a BA in Geography, before completing his master’s in Civic Design (MCD) in 1970.

I first knew Mike as a fellow postgraduate student on the 2-year full time MCD programme. The MCD had the virtue that it was fully recognised by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), i.e. a holder of the MCD was exempted from the final examinations of the RTPI and was required to complete two years of full-time appropriate practical experience to qualify as a professional town planner and become entitled to use the postnominals MRTPI, signifying full membership of the Institute.

While a student, Mike joined an RAF training program at Woodvale and gained his pilot’s wings flying prop-driven trainers.

Career

On completion of the MCD in 1970, a traditional path, for an MCD graduate, was to take a junior post in a local planning authority, to gain the required period of approved practical experience to qualify for MRTPI status. Between first and second years of the MCD, Mike and I had both taken summer vacation jobs with Liverpool City Council Planning Department at Wilberforce House on the Strand.

It is my understanding that, on graduation, Mike was appointed to a junior post in the Planning Department of Liverpool City Council, at the time at which Audrey Lees was serving as Deputy Chief Planning Officer to Jim Amos as Chief Planning Officer.

When Audrey’s Deputy role was abolished, she moved on to head the city’s new Department of Environmental Health and ‘took Mike Kerry with her’. For a period, Audrey Lees served as an External Examiner in the Department of Civic Design. She had also served as the Chief Planning Officer of the Greater London Council (GLC).

According to Geoffrey Walker, in the late 1980s, Mike and his family moved to Perth in Western Australia where Mike held senior government planning posts before being appointed as CEO of Joondalup Development Corporation. His diverse expertise was recognised in the early 1990s when he was recruited to join the executive team of the largest council in Australia, Brisbane City Council to run ‘planning and infrastructure’. Mike was appointed to the post of Chief Planner with Brisbane City Council in Queensland, a post that he held for 12 years.

In the mid-2000s, again according to Geoffrey Walker, Mike took a risk by challenging the Queensland Premier to develop a cohesive vision for South East (SE) Queensland. This resulted in Mike being appointed to run a new Queensland government planning office that was tasked with the delivery of the first ever SE Queensland Regional Plan as the Executive Director of Queensland’s Office of Urban Management. This was followed by a move to the private sector, serving on the boards of planning agencies, providing strategic advice on the development of rapidly growing urban areas, such as Springfield, Ripley Valley, and Maroochydore and running major businesses within engineering consultancies, including Parsons Brinkerhoff and AECOM. His expertise was sought by New South Wales (NSW) and ACT governments to assist in the assessment of major infrastructure projects. Mike was also an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland and a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). Mike served on the boards of South Bank Corporation, the Urban Land Development Authority, Brisbane City Enterprise, Springfield Land Corporation, as a Director of SunCentral and an independent member of the ACT Capital Metro Project Board, guiding the development of Canberra’s light rail network.

The Planning Institute of Australia (the equivalent of our RTPI) said that it is deeply saddened to mark the passing of Michael Kerry, who was a Lifetime Fellow of the Institute and former Queensland President of the Institute.

Mike is described as ‘a titan of the planning profession’ who left an enduring legacy on cities, regions, and the planning profession, bringing exceptional leadership and insight to major projects across Australia with expertise in urban planning, infrastructure planning, procurement and the delivery of complex integrated developments.

Personal life

Mike was originally from Norwich, the son of Stanley and Dorothy Kerry.

He lived with his first wife Di in a former lock-keeper’s cottage, alongside the Leeds-Liverpool canal, at Lydiate which proved to be a regular venue for parties.

When Mike and Di were preparing to migrate to Australia, for some nights, they took a room in my house on Southwood Road, in St Michaels. My diary suggests that this must have been in early 1973, as I have a note from Mike indicating that he expected to be at the National Capital Development Commission in Canberra from 24 March 1973.

Sadly, only a relatively short time after their arrival in Australia, Di was diagnosed as having some form of brain tumour and she died quite soon after.

In subsequent years, I maintained regular contact with Mike, typically in the form of emails and an exchange of lengthy Christmas round robin missives and, more recently, via WhatsApp.

According to Geoffrey Walker’s eulogy, Mike was employed by Albury-Wadonga Development Corporation, before moving to Adelaide. It was there that Mike met and married Brigitte Bleys and ‘they were blessed with two children Sebastian and Anouk’ about whom much was written in subsequent Christmas round robin communications, as was about my two lads Ben and Alex.

According to Geoffrey Walker, in the mid-1990s, Brigitte and Mike split up and Mike met Lorelei Baum in 2000, beginning what Mike declared to be the happiest 25 years of his life.

Mike and Lorelei were married in 2006 and together they embarked on a special journey of partnership and support. They were able to provide love and direction for each other while further exploring Australia and elsewhere.

One summer Mike and Lorelei visited Liverpool, and I took them on a tour of familiar sites. We ended up on one of the upper storey balconies of 30 James Street (off the restaurant area) having a drink and enjoying a dramatic view down on James Street and across to the Albert Dock. Somewhere, I have photos taken on that occasion, including one or two other photos taken at the Pier Head.

In more recent times, potentially November 2017, I had occasion to visit Mike and Lorelei, at their home in Brisbane, together with my then second wife Pam.

Mike’s sense of exploration extended to the great outdoors, food, wine, art and friendship and provided the basis of the last quarter of his life. Mike ran for enjoyment most days, and with the running club, Hash House Harriers, he also participated in many half and full marathons. The debilitating impacts of Parkinson’s Disease were a cruel blow to him and Lorelei, Sebastian and Anouk. Over the last 5 years, Mike dealt with problems calmly and positively to the extent that many remained unaware of his circumstances, myself included.

During this difficult period, Mike was overjoyed to become a grandfather, to Sebastian’s Henri and Anouk’s Augustine. With support from Lorelei, he continued to travel. Mike remained active for as long as he could. He loved his wife and family very deeply and left us all unbearably sad yet so grateful that he was such an important contributor to our lives.

Our thoughts are with Michael's family, friends and former colleagues.