An interview with Tony Ciaburro, Essex County Council's Director of Highways & Transport
February 2005
Tony Ciaburro, Director of Transport at one of the UK’s largest County Councils, Essex, wants to make a difference to people’s lives. He has devoted his 25-year career so far to the public sector, working at South Glamorgan, Staffordshire, and as head of transport in Hampshire before joining Essex two years ago. In his own words, Ciaburro “wanted a new challenge”.
If it’s change Ciaburro is after, then Essex is fertile ground. It’s an affluent county with one of the highest car ownership rates in the UK, and higher than average traffic growth – a big concern for Ciaburro as sustainability is close to his heart.
In addition, he faces huge development pressures. The ODPM expects Essex to find space for 131,000 new houses, envisaging the Thames Gateway, in the south of the county and M11 corridor, to be pivotal in delivering the South East’s housing quota. All this, coupled with BAA Stansted’s projected expansion, the massive Shell Haven port development and a port expansion in Harwich, contributes to making Essex the UK’s largest building site.
A sanguine Ciaburro takes it in his stride. He knows that traditional sources of delivery of transport projects are inadequate in meeting modern needs. To this end, Ciaburro is engaged in high-level discussions with the DfT on seeking the best delivery mechanisms for transport or transport-related schemes. “The problems are here now, we cannot wait 10 years watching them worsen” states Ciaburro.
It is his belief that local authorities have to work smarter, promoting non-traditional ideas that tackle the root causes, not just the symptoms of traffic growth. This means getting the internal organisational structure right and focused upon delivery, keeping on top of all contractual arrangements and most importantly, developing good relationships with key organisations including the community.
Ciaburro has worked hard at bringing the local business community on board with the county’s transport vision. Chaired by Sir Mike Hodgkinson, the Essex Business Consortium’s support in making the business case for transport schemes has been immensely valuable. Last year Essex secured £22 million for ‘development gain’ for transport projects. By the same token, Ciaburro knows that public interests must be at the heart of any engagement with the private sector. A local authority’s role is to find a balance between economic, social and environmental objectives.
Taking just as much time and effort is the mainstreaming of transport across the council’s activities. Ciaburro emphasises that “to make change you need the whole organisation behind you”, including elected members and officers from other departments including Education, Health and Social Services.
Something that those in the public sector understand completely is that transport decisions are political decisions. Without political will, there is no progress.
However, finding a Councillor who champions transport is rare. So Ciaburro has spent time nuturing his relationship with the Member in charge of Transport at Essex. He chuckles when he considers how several ‘away days’ with Cabinet Members have paid off as “they are now thinking the unthinkable!” and are “open to new ideas”.
As a Stoke City supporter, Ciaburro should be used to the trenches. This should stand him in good stead for his long-term mission to make a difference to the lives of the people of Essex.
Visit Essex County Council at www.essexcc.gov.uk
