The CIHT South West celebrate the very best the region offers across the key areas of highways and transportation. They are open to everyone: members and non-members; small and large organisations; public, private and third sector. The Awards recognise the outstanding contribution that good projects and people make to our daily lives.
The 2023 CIHT South West Region Awards were held on Thursday 25 May at Sandy Park, Exeter. We had a large number of high-quality entries which reflected the fantastic breadth and depth of transportation work undertaken in the region. Please see below which projects were shortlisted, commended, highly commended and winners.
Finalists:
Photo © Tim Pestridge 2023
Project by Balfour Beatty plc and Plymouth City Council, and in collaboration with WSP in the UK and AECOM.
Our committee judges were impressed that the approach taken by the combined team ensured that the Forder Valley Link Road was more than just the delivery of a piece of infrastructure. In particular, the demonstration of £10m of added social value, the approach to biodiversity net gain meaning over 14,500 trees planted, and climate adaptation to provide resilience against future flood risk. In addition, the saving of around 3,000 tonnes Carbon equivalent through the re-use of excavated material also demonstrated added benefits of over 9,000 fewer HGV movements and a cost saving of over £1.3m.
Finalists:
Photo © Tim Pestridge 2023
Project by WSP
DIAL is a unique and innovative tool that assesses the extent to which transport projects are equitable and inclusive. DIAL has been showcased at multiple national/international events and in industry publications: ‘including CIHT’s ‘Transportation Professional’ magazine.
DIAL features a simple user friendly interface allowing any transport professional to complete the assessment without prior training. The tool will then produce a ‘R.A.G’ score and provide helpful recommendations, contributing to better outcomes for users through informing and shaping decision making; ultimately improving the quality and inclusivity of projects.
On completion, DIAL acts as a quantified evidence-base for Diversity & Inclusion Action Plans; Equality Impact Assessments; Public Sector Equality Duties; and public consultations.
Finalists:
Photo © Tim Pestridge 2023
Project by Somerset Council
Somerset Council were awarded £11.9m through the Bus Service Improvement Plan funding programme. The BSIP is delivering bus priority on key corridors in Taunton, two mobility hubs, new fare produces, a trial of late night services and additional demand responsive services. A major element has been a three year trial for a £1 bus fare within Taunton which will cost about £1m over 3 yrs. The £1 fare has delivered a 24% increase in patronage in Taunton over its first 4 months.
Finalists:
Photo © Tim Pestridge 2023
Project by Kier Group
The project established a Strategic Stakeholder Panel, Technical Working Groups and Collaborative Design Sessions. Members included Cotswolds Conservation Board, National Trust, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Gloucestershire County Council, Cotswold District Council, Tewkesbury Borough Council, Natural England, Environment Agency and Historic England.
Collaboration included developing the project vision, creating a collaborative culture, sharing of information, face-to-face engagement with stakeholders. This led to a cultural shift to enable the delivery of the right outcomes for an AONB.
Finalists:
Photo © Tim Pestridge 2023
This year the panel found it incredibly difficult to separate out the three shortlisted nominees, so it was decided all three should be joint winners.
Laura is a senior transport planner with 5 and a half years’ experience in both the public and private sector. The Panel were particularly impressed that Laura co-created the multi award-winning Gender Equality Toolkit in Transport (GET-IT), which she has presented in the UK and internationally, as well as successfully submitting a journal paper on the topic. Laura’s GET-IT has changed the face of the industry; putting gender truly on the agenda.
Sarah is vice-chair of the Bristol emerging professionals group. She leads Arup’s wellbeing monitoring programme, helping monitor the health and wellbeing of staff and acting on issues raised; and is part of the equality, diversity and inclusivity committee. Sarah is the relationship manager between DfT and Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and BCP for bus service improvement plans; a very skilful role coordinating DfT, LAs, transport operators and consultancies to ensure BSIPs deliver against the National Bus Strategy.
As the assistant project manager for the A382 scheme, James has driven forward the full business case for the scheme including traffic modelling, strategic fit, economics, and carbon reduction; during challenging times and a backdrop of rising costs. The Panel was particularly impressed with the amount of work that James does to support CIHT and the development of younger professionals.
The CIHT South West region’s award for the Emerging Professional Presentation competition. The competition final is planned to be held later in the year, with the final entries judged by CIHT South West committee members and the CIHT President. The winner is announced at the 2024 awards ceremony.
For further information, please get in touch via southwest@ciht.org.uk
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