eNews

Welcome to the Spring Edition of the RSTA E News and my first as the new RSTA Chairman, which I am delighted and honoured to hold this position for the next 12 months and I hope that I can provide valuable support and leadership to the team. May I take this opportunity in thanking my predecessor, the outgoing Chairman Stewart Struthers for his commitment and dedication that he has put into the association over the years, not only in the last 12 months, but previously through his representation in the various sectors? Stewart’s vision in putting a progression plan in place for the future Chair of the association provides stability and leadership moving forward which will allow the sectors to hopefully continue to grow and expand.

So, what will we be looking at and what should our focus be on through the association over the next 12 months, particularly in a time when local authority revenue spending will be decreasing. Within the RSTA we must continue to work closely with all of our major stakeholders to re-iterate the message that in a time of challenging budgets, continued emphasis placed on asset engineering and how best to invest in the highway network, Engineers must continue to use Specialist Treatments that will provide cost effective solutions and will significantly improve the life of the pavement. We have spent a great deal of time over the last 4 years developing Codes of Practices for the benefit of the industry.

Clients and contractors must now ensure that they use these Codes as best practice to procure treatments for the future which will provide improved management. What still remains a concern is the lack of experienced younger people progressing within the industry and with an ageing workforce we must encourage younger people to look within this area as a career for the future. Within the RSTA we will be continuing to invest in the training and development of our workforce through Specialist Training programmes and looking to develop our progressive employees further with NVQ and Diploma training for Managers. This investment is a fundamental requirement for building a more stable future for this industry.

The above are a couple of areas where we can continue to develop the association through this year and we have a number of other initiatives that will be introducing through 2014. Once again, I am delighted to take up the post of Chairman for this year and I hope that I will be able to continue to assist in developing the association through this year.

Paul Goosey
RSTA Chairman

back to contents »