In the run-up to the Highway Authorities and Utilities Committee (HAUC (UK)) convention in April, Clive Bairsto, chief executive officer and chairman of Street Works UK, speaks to Dominic Browne about a sector getting ahead of the times.
The HAUC (UK) convention will bring together the utilities (Street Works UK) and local authority (JAG (UK)) elements of the organisation together for their first major in-person event since the pandemic. The organisation and the sector has emerged from those troubled times stronger and more collaborative.
‘One of the benefits coming out of COVID was a very close working relationship between the utilities and local authorities,’ Mr Bairsto says.
‘Dare I say it, the weekly drumbeat of calls that we had during COVID was essential in cementing the relationship between the organisations and “understanding each other’s challenges” as we said. That has definitely percolated and been retained beyond COVID. We called it the “play fair” dictum and that is something that we refer back to now. If anything the relationship is getting stronger as we move forward.’
Relationships are always a work in progress, but any divisions have a much better chance of being resolved under the new digital platform Street Manager. This central resource for all highway authorities, utilities and contractors in England to plan, manage and record street and road works had some teething problems, and questions of data validation remain, but all sides seem well aware of the potential benefits.
Mr Bairsto says: ‘We will start to get visibility shortly on where there are, shall we say, excursions of performance in utilities and where there has been a predilection to find fault by authorities where it was probably not reasonable.
‘I think there has been a history of that in the past but far less of it now. Those sorts of things will be exposed by the all-in-one-place statistics we will have through Street Manager.’
Tentative, but very positive, progress may also be happening in another area of contention. A massive expansion of utilities work is expected in the next few years - dubbed the 'infrastructure race' - relating to the rollout of fibre broadband, electric vehicle charging and 5G, and even more nascent areas like heat networks and the repurposing of gas pipelines for hydrogen.
This obviously creates a challenge for network management and previous attempts to establish a flexi-permit system to aid delivery have foundered.
Mr Bairsto tells Highways: ‘We are exploring another approach: a non-statutory approach called a “project permit” or a “project collaborative permit”. A non-statutory change [through secondary legislation changes to the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991] can be done much more quickly.
'A flexi-permit is probably best suited to the type of infrastructure rollout of a telecommunications-style organisation and the project and collaborative permits would probably be more suited to the electrical and water industries as we stand. We are working this through at the moment.’
Another positive for HAUC (UK) is a renewed sense of member engagement. It has appointed a dedicated communications person to help with this and set up a specific working group on the issue of worker abuse.
The title of the conference this year is ‘Climate – change or bust?’ and this issue combined with the ‘infrastructure race’ will naturally dominate proceedings.
‘I am very excited about letting people understand that we as an industry are taking the environmental issues seriously,’ Mr Bairsto says.
Behind the scenes, there is work progressing on a study entitled ‘Road to Net Zero Street and Road Works’. An initial sourcing document seen by Highways has outlined the state of the industry and the scope of the emissions.
It identifies that the LGVs that are used to get people to site have the highest impact on the sector’s emissions and argues that the first step is to identify efficiencies, whilst simultaneously transitioning the vehicle fleets to zero-emission options.
Other core elements include moving to zero emissions on-site machinery, adopting new materials and processes, and employing reusability and effective recycling.
A pre-conference dinner also provides the opportunity for a mini innovation summit, ‘to bring a group of people together specifically to talk about some of those issues about how we adopt any innovations,’ Mr Bairsto says.
Street Works UK will be busy throughout April in the run-up to the event, working with the Environment Agency around the Technical Guidance WM3: Waste Classification – Guidance on the classification and assessment of waste. These are the rules that govern the risk-assessment disposal of excavated waste.
‘The existing regulatory position statement (RPS 211) runs out on 31 April so we are working furiously away to draw up a new implementation plan by 1 May. The authorities operate under a different regulatory position statement. It does seem curious that they are different given the nature of the work we do.’
There is always something new happening in utilities and street works but right now it seems this sector is right at the heart of wider technical and indeed social changes, making the HAUC (UK) convention a very hot ticket.
The HAUC (UK) Convention 2023 takes place on 25 April at Emirates Old Trafford.
