CONTENTS04.06.09
NewCivilEngineer
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New CivilEngineer
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EDITOR1Antony Oliver (020)77284541 antony.oliver DEPUTYEDITOR1JackieWhitelaw (020)77284542 jackie.whitelaw CONTENTEDITOR1MarkHansford (020)77284543 mark.hansford
NEWS EDiTOR1John McKenna (020)77284544 john.mckenna SENIORREPORTER1AlexandraWynne (020)77284540 alexandra.wynne SENIORREPORTER(WEB)1EdOwen (020)77284545 ed.owen
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RECRUITMENT
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MichaelMaunsell (020)77283824Le 0 8 JUIN2009
www.nce.co.uk1 04.06.09 NEWCIVILENGINEER3
05
NEWS
(rossrail
Firms with long history on mega-project win key design jobs
14
(DVERSTDRY Castingthe die
What should politicians do for the industry as voters go to the polIs today?
HISTDRY 20
D-Dayanniversary
NCE pays tribute to the designers of the Mulberry Harbour in World War II
Alsointhis issue
06 News
Stansted second runway still on, says BAA
08 News
London 2012 stadium faces major roof challenge
09 News
Armitt on 2012
"big build"
Letters
Faslane,government underspend, subs increase
14
Manchester Waste
Western Europe's biggest waste management deal
18
27 .CENews
Adonis fuels hopes for new high speed Hiles
Comment
AntonyOliver
1twitter.com/antonyolivernce"Infrastrudure is unquestionably central to government and opposition plans to restart the economy"
We deserve more and should demand more Irom politicians
Was your European election vote positive or in protest? Maybe both. One thing is for sure, there will be a huge amount read into the result, specifically what it tells us about the likely outcome of a General Election.
Given the turmoil in Downing Street it is unlikely the government will calI an early election. That means the next 12 months will present some interesting choices and deci- sions for civil engineering professionals.
Infrastructure is unquestionably central to government and opposition plans to restaIt the economy. It is therefore interesting to look at what the various political parties have to attract the civil engineering vote.
As you will read in NCE this week, the views across the profession vary regarding where policy and leadership priorities must be focused.
Twelve years is a long while for any party to be in power and the current government will of course be judged on its record. But
..
"Lthen again, so will the opposition. The good news for civil engineers is that across the board there is a constant theme of commit- ment to investing in UK infrastructure.
And this has to continue regardless of who is in power. And as 1said last week, the government's failure to spend f300M of ils promised economic stimulus is both a disgrace and a mistake.
Yet according to one correspondent this week, my view is somewhat naïve.
Apparently engineers have become well accustomed to "the 'smoke and mirrors- double accounting' modus operandi that perpetua tes in government circles". We now expect, as a matter of course, to be short- changed at every turn.
Well that may be the case, but for me that is not enough. As responsible professionals, we have to do better than resign ourselves to such a fate. We deserve more and should demand more from our politicians.
Not least because, as newspaper polIs and street vox-pops tell us, the rest of the population is demanding more. The ongoing scandaI and subsequent public outcry over MPs' expenses demonstrates that for most, resting with the status quo is not enough.
Perhaps the scale of the current economic downturn is responsible for the sudden mobilisation of public support for change. Or maybe it is just a storm being whipped up by a media desperate for a government change.
Whatever - the result is clear. The future of poli tics is set to be more transparent, more accessible and more accountable to the voters. Wewill see huge change in theway we are represented and the way that we can influence. Which is good, provided we get one thing from our leaders - individuals with passion and vision for infrastructure. And with very few notable exceptions, this bas been sadly lacking oElate.
