We are pleased to announce the appointment of Hilary Chipping as a new Trustee with immediate effect. Hilary is Chief Executive at the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), which she helped to establish in 2011.   She oversees the £265m programme of investment through the Local Growth Fund and the development of the Local Industrial Strategy designed to increase productivity. She works closely with Central Government, local authority and private sector partners to enhance skills, support businesses and deliver economic  growth. From 2008 to 2011 she was Director of the Milton Keynes South Midlands Growth Area (the largest growth area in the UK). As Director of Network Strategy at the Highways Agency from 2001 to 2007 she developed the investment strategy for the motorway and trunk road network.

Chairman of the Fund David Tarrant welcomed the appointment saying “Hilary’s experience and knowledge will be of great value and I know she make a really important contribution that will add to the existing Trustee team”.

Getting all our roads to work better

The Rees Jeffreys Road Fund is keen to renew the debate about what we want from our roads in England, and how they should best be run, building on the impact made by our Major Road Network proposals in 2016.

Over the past year Rees Jeffreys has funded two follow-up pieces of work on the direction of travel with the road network as a whole, covering both the user experience and governance issues. These can both be found on our publication page https://www.reesjeffreys.co.uk/transport-reports/

The Fund’s Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2018 is now available at Reports and Accounts 2018 .  An annual return for 2018 to the Charity Commission has also been completed.

At yesterday’s Trustee meeting (5^th February 2019) both David Hutchinson and Martin Shaw stood down after many years of serving the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund.

Martin has been a Trustee since 2006 and in leaving he commented “Trusteeship of the RJRF for thirteen years has been a privilege and a pleasure. It is reassuring to know that the future of the Fund is in the hands of such bright and committed people.”  Martin made an invaluable contribution as a Trustee particularly in offering his expertise and knowledge on matters relating to planning, environmental and transportation issues.

David has been a Trustee since 2009 and Chairman since 2014.  As Chairman David has championed a more proactive approach to the Fund’s work, overseen the successful completion of the MRN project, reviewed both the Governance and the Fund’s strategic approach, and brought new skills and expertise to the Trustee group.

The Fund would want to record its sincere thanks to both David and Martin for the energy, enthusiasm, commitment and the significant contribution they have made to the Fund’s work.

David Tarrant will succeed David Hutchinson as Chairman of Rees Jeffreys Road Fund after the Trustee meeting on 5^th February 2019.  David has been a Trustee for ten years and Chairman since 2014.

During his time as Chairman, David has:

• overseen gradual but important changes in the Trustee membership in order to maintain the right mix of skills and experience;
• continued to promote the development of the profession by working with Universities to fund bursaries to post graduates in transport studies;
• encouraged a pro – active role for the Fund in commissioning research, including the landmark study into the Major Roads Network.

David Hutchinson commented “I am pleased to be able to hand over the reins to David Tarrant. The Fund continues to play an important role in supporting transport research and promoting professional development.  We have an excellent group of Trustees who I am sure will carry on the work for many years to come”.

David Tarrant has been a Trustee since 2014 and has a wealth of experience in the transport industry.  Having just retired from Mott MacDonald he can apply himself to his new role and will be supported by Ginny Clarke, who has agreed to take on the new role of Vice Chair.  As Vice Chair, Ginny will focus on overseeing the Fund’s own investments and succession planning.

David Tarrant remarked “I am honoured to follow David Hutchinson as Chairman of the Fund.  David has done a great job in ensuring that the Fund is widely known and respected; and supported projects that are relevant to the transport issues of today. The MRN study was one of David’s lasting achievements. There is further work that can be done to take that study forward which I intend to encourage in my time as Chairman.  The Fund is in good shape and I am really looking forward, with Ginny’s and fellow Trustees help, to taking on my new role.”

Details of the Awards made for 2018 have now been published and can be found on the projects page

A total of £273,349 (including £80,000 in graduate bursaries) was awarded to 13 organisations or individuals (plus eight bursaries to 5 Universities).

The Rees Jeffreys Trustees are looking for help in mapping over 70 Roadside Rests created by the Fund since the early 1950s.

The Fund’s Trust Deed has as one of the objects to “promote schemes for the provision of roadside parks and open spaces designed to enhance the beauty and attractiveness of the highways”.

As a result, from its early days the Fund supported schemes to create “Roadside Rests” in an era before Motorway Service Stations.  Over a period from 1950 to the early part of this century over 70 such schemes were completed.  Although the Trustees no longer see it as their role to encourage new schemes it does wish to maintain the tradition and history of these facilities.

The Fund’s records of these schemes however are quite limited.  The Trustees are keen to update its records and to add, for example, GPS locations and photographs where possible.  For this we need the public’s help.

The current list of sites is attached here RJRF Roadside Rests.

So if you are aware of a Rees Jeffreys Roadside Rest near you please contact the Secretary, Brian Murrell on brianmurrell@reesjeffreys.co.uk with any information that might add to our records. That might include:

• Confirming there is still a Roadside Rest at the location given;
• Confirming that the description of the location given is accurate;
• Sending the GPS co-ordinates or postcode for the correct location;
• Describing its current condition;
• Identifying if there is a Rees Jeffreys plague visible;
• Sending photographs of the Roadside Rest and the views from it.

Secretary

October 2018

Rees Jeffreys is pleased to report the award of eight bursaries to students taking a full time Masters in transport in 2018/9.    Chairman David Hutchinson commented “This year we extended our invitation to twelve Universities. It is a pleasure to report this resulted in an excellent group of candidates to choose from again this year.  I am confident this will make a real contribution to our aim of  enriching the supply of transport professionals in the UK”.  For more details visit the Bursaries page.

A greener approach to design and maintenance could transform the road network for the better, a new report sets out.  Roads and the Environment: Putting an innovative approach at the heart of RIS2, produced by Campaign for Better Transport with funding from the Rees Jeffreys Roads Fund, shows practical ways that highways managers can make roads better for the environment and for all road users.

By embracing best practice from around the world, it sets out a positive vision of how Highways England’s resources can be used to make the current road network safer, greener and more in keeping with its surroundings.

David Hutchinson, Chair of Trustees, Rees Jeffreys Road Fund, said: “We hope that this report will help to inspire a new generation of highway engineers to think beyond the engineering basics and through high quality design make our main roads better for all.”

The report highlights examples of best practice from around the world to develop a greener approach to the strategic road network and to improve the way it is designed and maintained.

The Fund’s Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2017 is now available here .  An annual return for 2017 to the Charity Commission has also been completed.