CIHT Vice President, David Gibby outlined the benefits of an integrated, long-term approach to transport at the Dods launch event on Connecting Britain:  connecting our regions today.  CIHT has been one of the key partners to the report and were invited to the launch reception, hosted by Jim Fitzpatrick MP at the House of Commons. 

David Gibby, speaking on behalf of CIHT emphasised the need for a long-term plan and said: ‘airports, high speed rail, all take a long time to deliver.  Clearly we need cross-party support for such schemes’.  David said that agreement for infrastructure projects across parties should cover at  least 20 years.  Speaking earlier, the Transport Minister, Norman Baker, highlighted that such support had been agreed in respect to high speed rail and climate change, but admitted that aviation was proving to be, in his words:  ‘a bit more a of a challenge’. 

David highlighted that transport could help with other policy areas and provides an opportunity for improving the health of the nation.  Maintenance of transport networks was also stated as a key issue and that establishing a hierarchy for investment decisions would help with infrastructure investment.  David said: ‘first we must maintain and safely operate our transport network, secondly we should target action to make better use of it, and finally we should make targeted infrastructure improvements’.

The Connecting Britain report is the result of a year-long study led by Dods and has involved research and a series of events to look at the importance and impact of infrastructure improvements in the UK. The projects looked at how the UK can better connect itself regionally, nationally and internationally to enhance and build on our economic prosperity. The report was produced in partnership with CIHT, Centro, Go-Ahead, and Alstrom. 

Further information:  www.dods-parliamentary-events.co.uk/index.php  and a copy of the report itself can be found here

To read David Gibby’s blog go to:  http://www.ciht.org.uk/en/about-us/whos-who/david-gibby-branch-champion-blog.cfm#.UW62XTVwbcs