President's Update

Can I start by saying what a huge honour and privilege it is to be the new president of ADEPT. When I started thinking about my year as President, I little thought how quickly it would come upon me, or that we would still be holding our conferences virtually. As I took part in our online AGM it made me realise how much better we have got at using the technology over the last year, with raising hands, emojis in the chat and virtual hand clapping all playing a part.  

With our Spring Seminar and AGM on Thursday, I’ve come to my final week as ADEPT President. What a strange year it has been. Apart from travelling to the Bristol Bath Railway Path to be interviewed for Countryfile about sustainable travel, my whole presidency has been done from my house. That makes me the lowest carbon president ever – which seems appropriate in a year that will end with COP26.

Following last week’s local elections, many of us will be preparing to welcome new Mayors and councillors and looking ahead to the policy changes that a change of political leadership often brings. These are always challenging times for officers, where we aim to ensure our politicians are fully briefed and prepared for the challenging decisions that lie ahead. 

As lockdown restrictions are eased, we are beginning to see the impacts reflected through our places. We have had reports of traffic increases of 10 % in the last week and there are varied reports from our high streets, with some market towns reporting benefits from people not having to commute. It’s going to be interesting to see whether some of the environmental benefits of less traffic on our roads and people shopping locally can remain after lockdown ends.

Remembering Steve Berry OBE, Head of Highways Maintenance, Innovation, Resilience, Light Rail and Cableways at the Department for Transport - a personal reflection from Mark Stevens, Chair of ADEPT’s Engineering Board. 

Welcome back from the Easter break everyone, I hope you have all managed to enjoy some well needed time off.

I wanted to start this blog by taking a brief moment to acknowledge Prince Philip’s passing and his many long years of service. On behalf of ADEPT, I would like to offer our deepest condolences to the Queen and the Royal Family.

This week we begin our path out of lockdown, with people being able to meet up with other households within existing guidelines. With some welcome sunshine and the clocks going forward, there is a sense of relief in the country, albeit with some wariness about how Europe’s third wave might affect the UK.

The continued roll out of the vaccine and the drop in numbers of infections and deaths due to Covid-19 continues to be good news in what has been a hard start to 2021. The winter lockdown has been difficult for everyone and although it will be good to see restrictions lift, I think we are all mindful of Professor Chris Whitty’s warning and the continued need to support colleagues in public health.

It has been reassuring to see the Government take a more measured route out of lockdown based on data. Although there is inevitable discussion and disagreement about the approach to schools reopening and concern amongst business and the tourism industry, it is useful to have some degree of certainty on the route forward. All eyes are now on the Budget, where the Chancellor is expected to announce a continuation of support for business, the furlough scheme and other job support schemes, at least in the short term.

The success of the NHS vaccine rollout has been most welcome amidst all the grim news, ongoing restrictions and winter weather. Unfortunately. it has also brought with it increased speculation and leaks to media about how we get out of lockdown and how soon - the kind of mixed messaging that helps no-one. So far, all it seems to be is speculation, and the Prime Minister is certainly indicating that by taking it slowly, this could be our last lockdown.