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FOCUS 20 THERE IS CLEAR “


FRUSTRATION THAT THE DELIVERABILITY OF ALL SUCH LONG TERM PROJECTS IS


STILL AT THE MERCY OF SHORT TERM THINKING.


Armitt says the solution comes back to how you balance the different requirements of need, “and we all, at the end of the day, have a say in that through the ballot box,” he says.


And while he accepts that government, under Lord Deighton, has a very clear agenda to push forward critical schemes such as the Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor, the Thames Tideway and the High Speed 2 project, there is clear frustration that the deliverability of all such long term projects is still at the mercy of short term thinking.


In particular he fears for HS2, even with its current cross party support, remains vulnerable to the parliamentary process which still has some way to run.


“One of the problems with HS2 is that there was no serious debate about the route, need or economics until government announced that it was going ahead with the project,” he explains. “All would have been identifi ed by a commission. What you are trying to achieve is for politicians to vote on what is good for the country and not simply about what irritates their local constituents.”


Sir John Armitt became Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority on 1 September 2007. He is also Chairman of National Express Group, City and Guilds and is Deputy Chairman of the Berkeley Group. Sir John is also a member of the Board of Transport for London and the Airports Commission.


Sir John Armitt, CBE FREng FICE, Chairman


Olympic Delivery Authority


After leaving John Laing plc in 1993, where Sir John had been Chairman of Laing’s international and civil engineering divisions, he joined Union Railways, the company responsible for development of the high-speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link, as Chief Executive. In 1997 he became Chief Executive of Costain, a position he held until 2001.


Sir John was Chief Executive of Railtrack plc from 2001and Chief Executive of Network Rail from 2002 to 2007. He was Chairman of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council until March 2012.


Sir John was awarded the CBE in 1996 for his contribution to the rail industry and received a knighthood in the New Year Honours List 2012 for services to engineering and construction.


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