Sydney owes an enormous debt to George Proudmann, a master mason, heritage expert and wonderful character who died on Saturday, 18 March 2000.

George Proudmann saw the character of Sydney in its yellow block sandstone, and he put 30 years into ensuring that this was looked after. His background was in the traditional craft of stone masonry, but he went on to become an advocate and carer for the city's soul and character.

George was dedicated to his chosen craft of stone masonry. He would talk of the "Zen-like process" of using the chisel repetitively to carve a piece of stone. He would also talk of the city as a place of elegance, and of the need for a "sense of place". He saw our old buildings as being young - "a hundred years is nothing" - but it was the connection with the past that George saw as being so important. He envisaged the past as "like an extended family".

George Proudmann set up the Government Stoneyard within the Department of Public Works and Services. He instigated a training programme for young apprentices to learn the craft. He introduced new technology with laser saws but, most importantly, he saw the need to care for the sandstone buildings that make Sydney a special place.

One of my last memories of George is typical of his love of stone. It was a site visit to the location of a Memorial to Volunteers planned for Mrs Macquarie's Peninsula in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Richard Leplastrier was designing the memorial, but George became part of the process suggesting the use of a "scuntion" - a giant piece of stone that would be part buried in the grass. George sat on a weathered sandstone rock, breathing heavily, while he watched Richard and the assembled experts view the site. Somehow the whole group ended up gathering around George, listening to his stories of how sandstone is weathered through its soft underbelly. To George the natural sandstone on the Peninsula was alive and something he understood completely.

George loved interacting with all those involved on the many projects of our city. He would often ring me to suggest who should design a particular building. His robust, friendly, warm, effervescent character endeared him to many Sydney-siders. We often had drinks at George's home with its stone verandah and its sandstone table - George himself looked like he had been carved in stone.