Unity will give us a big voice

Dec 4 2007 by Sarah Judd, Evening Gazette

WELCOME to our comment column, in which leading figures from the region present a thought-provoking view on an issue affecting their company or organisation or the wider community. Today it’s the turn of David Wood, chairman of construction organisation Constructing Excellence in the North East and chairman of the Institution of Civil Engineers North East. David is also managing director of White Young Green, based at Teesdale.

THE built environment sector is a broad and diverse industry, with individuals, businesses and wider organisations all battling to be heard.

Within our region alone, thousands of tiny voices express their thoughts and opinions of what the sector needs.

Sometimes, businesses are slightly louder in the vocalising of their beliefs. Louder still are organisations such as Constructing Excellence in the North East (CENE), the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) North East and the Construction Industry Council (CIC) North East.

Yet each is shouting alone, when the message is quite often the same, with a few differences depending upon the point of view and experiences of the individual, business or organisation.

I know this for three reasons.

As an individual, I have more than 30 years of experience as a civil engineer with half of that working in the North-east region.

As a businessman, I am regional managing director of White Young Green.

Within the organisational structure of the built environment sector, I am chairman of both CENE and ICE North East, and vice chairman of CIC North East.

From these viewpoints, it is clear to see this situation, where the voices ring out separately, needs to be resolved.

Unity will give professionals a more influential voice and help to both refine and channel our message so that it is easier for Government and other audiences to hear and respond accordingly.

With a greater degree of collaboration, not only can the professionals working in the built environment have a stronger voice, we can also have a more rounded understanding of the big picture facing us as we build the future of the region and the UK.

This will have great benefits, such as ensuring that professionals within the built environment sector will be able to give better advice to policy makers.

By working together, we can also cut down on duplication, and we can learn together through mutually-supportive seminars and events that are more comprehensive and, therefore, more rewarding for those who attend.

As well as using my terms of office with CENE, ICE and the CIC to call for a more holistic view of the built environment, I believe there also needs to be a more rounded approach to the professions within it.

Within civil engineering, we have specialists in areas such as highways, rail and ports, but we need to get back to having more holistic engineers - back to the roots set by our illustrious predecessors, such as Thomas Telford and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

We need to find the best way to weld all of these skills and all of that knowledge together.

That is why, during the coming year, one of my key messages is one of unity throughout the built environment.