An interview with Garrett Emmerson, Director of Highways & Transport, Buckinghamshire County Council - September 2005
Garrett Emmerson, Director of Highways and Transport at Buckinghamshire County Council made his mark as transport boss at the award winning Telford and Wrekin Council before moving to the largest transport portfolios in the UK in 2002. After three years at Buckinghamshire we are already seeing the fruits of his labour.
Buckinghamshire is a well-off home county with high car ownership. Like its neighbours in the South East it is faced with the problem of finding room for many new homes. Most of its 59,000 quota will surround the market town of Alyesbury, doubling its population over the next 20 years, and Milton Keynes is set to expand by 45,000 new homes.
Emmerson waxes lyrical about the opportunities offered to him by the ODPM’s housing growth agenda. This time the emphasis of growth will not be about providing for car use (reminiscent of 1967’s creation of the Milton Keynes New Town, which was created to cater for London’s overspill) instead it will be about creating sustainable communities.
Much of the southern part of the county currently points towards London, helped by a north-south rail network. If Emmerson gets his way, an east-west rail link will connect Cambridge in the East to Oxford in the West creating even more opportunities in this South Midlands sub-region.
To Emmerson, sustainable communities mean providing a much higher level of self-containment than we are currently used to. He states, “I don’t want everyone to commute to London, instead local priorities must strike the right balance between housing and employment”.
Without local employment to sustain housing levels, long distance travel and its negative impact upon quality of life will be symptomatic.
“What better legacy can we leave future generations than to influence climate change positively by reducing the overall need to travel”. Emmerson’s belief that sustainable communities should be placed at the heart of the Transport agenda is further emphasised by his work to change the image of the bus in Buckinghamshire. He has improved bus patronage through a combination of good working relationship with:
a) transport operator - Arriva
b) local employers; and
c) orientating his team towards a customer focus
Emmerson’s fresh approach to a modernising the old County Surveyor structure in Bucks has shifted his department’s focus towards the end user. He recruits widely. Experience has shown him that a range of professional skills are more likely to come up with innovative solutions.
A good example of his ideas in practice was establishing a distinct 25-strong ‘Promotion & Development Group’ to promote travel information, travel plans, alternative modes, school transport and behavioural change schemes. This team consists of social scientists to understand the travelling public and marketing professionals whose task is to promote alternative transport.
“It’s a value for money option” insists Emmerson as these types of measures can produce an impressive 10% traffic reduction. It;s likely with an attitude as resourceful and ambitions as Emmerson’s, his progression to the national stage will naturally follow. He is one to watch.
