National Infrastructure

There are a number of types of national infrastructure.  Before the pandemic started in 2020, transport infrastructure was arguably the most prominent, since it directly affects our lives and economy.  No one wants to spend wasted time sitting in their cars going nowhere due to traffic congestion or waiting for trains that when they arrive are overcrowded and the tickets are expensive.  Now however, the pandemic has forced us indoors, but we still need to communicate with each other.  This has raised the prominence of the Communications Infrastructure and specifically Broadband.

When new houses are planned, residents often form pressure groups to protest against their construction.  Surely, this is counterintuitive when it is generally acknowledged that we need more houses.  Dig a little deeper and the residents will say that the for each house built, traffic congestion will get worse, GP waiting times will increase and new schools will struggle to recruit teachers.

If we are to build more houses, we need to improve the infrastructure supporting them.  When the volume of house construction is in the thousands, then developers’ contributions are insufficient, something more is needed.  Government must fund this infrastructure.  However, whom do residents lobby to make sure that it happens and is the power of the ballot box enough?

A previous Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling wrote in the Yorkshire Post on 22 August 2017 that the so called Northern Powerhouse was not his responsibility, but that of the TfN, Transport for North, yet he goes on to say “It is central government’s responsibility to provide funding and a delivery structure that ensures efficiency, value for money and accountability. But beyond this, I want the North to take control”.  Read more at:

Either these are weasel words or disingenuous, because who would spend time and money on mapping the detail with the high risk that the funding would not be forthcoming?

I have pointed out the Northern Powerhouse example as it directly relates to the transport infrastructure problem we have in the south.

Communications Infrastructure

The pandemic of 2020, focussed our attention on this sector, because suddenly everyone wanted to use the Internet as a way of keeping a social distance from others.  Continued…

Energy Infrastructure

Climate Change has put the Energy Infrastructure sector under an extreme spotlight and as a consequence and quite rightly has been undergoing massive changes in recent years.  Continued…

Transport Infrastructure

Considering that traffic congestion is such an issue over most of the UK, very few people know who to speak to about it.  Most would assume that it is their local MP, since the reason for the First Past The Post electoral system is that each constituency has a local leader, a single voice who can speak up for their electorate.  However, this does not appear to be the case in Eastleigh, nor in the wider Solent area.  Continued…

External Funding

China to Invest in Britain; The Government announced on 17 June 2014 that over £14 billion of trade and investment deals have been signed between UK and Chinese firms.

Is this the funding solution to large-scale infrastructure projects such as HS2 and Heathrow’s third runway?

Proposed and Current Infrastructure Projects

For a list of proposed and current infrastructure projects, please examine the Government’s National Infrastructure website