Mike Notman, Chairman HTMA.

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A nation on the move Delivering Highways Maintenance for Sustainable Growth

Roads provide the basic needs for society and sustainable roads are essential for the survival, health and well-being of a society. In the UK, the government says there will be a 43 per cent increase in car use in the next 12 years.

The challenge for the industry in a world in transition is to ensure continuous, affordable and reliable mobility, meeting society’s expectations in a sustainable, transparent, ethical and environmentally sound manner. Sustainability requires an approach that meets the aspirations of the community, is environmentally responsible and produces a return on the investment made.

For this, the 3rd HTMA Conference-which has as its theme Sustainable Roads -we pose the question: “How do we ensure that the services we provide meet the needs of the environments in which they are located”? How do we take the demands of the community and investors into account and what risk factors should we consider? In short, how do we make the best decisions, recognising that probably no one decision is ‘right’ when measured against all criteria?

Sustainability requires a multi-disciplinary approach. It is hard to imagine a topic more prominent in contemporary discussions of road maintenance issues than sustainability. The HTMA is taking a leadership role in sustainability on behalf of its members and the wider roads industry. As an Association, we belong to a network of organisations and individuals from a very wide range of disciplines. While our traditions reside in the engineering of highways maintenance, many of our members are rising to the challenge of delivering services which meet the immediate needs of users, are economically responsible and which ensure that the infrastructure upon which we depend is available for the generations to come. Progress in this field, however, requires the exchange of ideas and concepts at the most fundamental level.

It is my hope that Sustainable Roads 2009 will provide such an opportunity for exchange. It is my pleasure to invite you to join us in responding to the challenges and taking our industry forward as we do so.