2016 has been a rollercoaster of a year – political changes, economic uncertainty – and yet Infrastructure has never had such a high profile in politics.

With the ongoing ‘Devolution’ debates in the North of England, Infrastructure is high on the agenda, and ICE has been heavily involved in these conversations. Our former President, Sir John Armitt, sits on the National Infrastructure Commission, and ICE’s Policy team is gathering input from all sources to show that ICE Membership should ‘have a voice’ in future decisions. Some of our NW Members represent the region on our Northern Powerhouse Lifed Panel, and will respond to organisations like Transport for the North – to give a voice to Civil Engineers in this process.

We welcomed Sir John to the region in February, where he witnessed the flood damage in Carlisle, and met many Members. Thank you to all of our Volunteers and Members involved in this visit, and we look forward to welcoming Tim Broyd as our new President to Blackpool in March. I hope that you will be able to find time to join us for any part of the visit.

It’s sometimes easy to lose focus on the very positive state of Civil Engineering during the year. The pipeline of projects is as healthy as it has been for many years, with many organisations planning for expansion. ICE Membership is increasing, nationally and in the North West. ICE Committee’s organised over 100 events for you in 2016, which is an incredible array of technical and educational knowledge that you can access, usually for free. Thank you to the many people that helped organise and attended these events, as well as the many volunteers that help to visit schools, colleges or our Bridge at the Catalyst Centre in Widnes, to encourage the future generations of Engineers!

 ICE will only thrive by engaging with our Members, so please contact myself or your local Branch if you have any comments or suggestions, on how we can improve and stay relevant to supporting you as a Civil Engineer.

Have a wonderfully festive break with your families and loved ones, and I look forward to 2017. Whether we get a rollercoaster or a smooth ride, time will tell….

Darrell