Following publication of the Outline Transport Strategy, England's Economic Heartland is engaging with a wide variety of people, businesses and organisations about how the transport system can help achieve transformational economic growth, while also securing environmental 'net gain' and improving residents' quality of life. Yesterday (30/10/2019) CIHT hosted a full-day workshop to give members a chance to give their inputs to this initial stage of engagement. England's Economic Heartland will open the formal consultation on their transport strategy in 2020. 

Six themes were discussed in breakout workshops on the day: Delivery and investment, strategic vision, connecting people, connecting places, connecting services and connecting opportunities. Some of the key themes that emerged from the day was the need for attracting private investment and achieving economic growth whilst making sure to decarbonise transport.

Participants also discussed the approach to delivering connectivity both in the region and beyond, and the notion of thinking about connectivity as corridors or networks were discussed. Do you build a few large transport infrastructure schemes or several smaller ones? The consequences of what connectivity does to different towns was also raised, as there were concerns that it tends to be the transport hubs that benefit, and smaller towns can end up with limited social and economic activity. 

Videos and interviews from the event will be made available on the events page shortly.