Infrastructure 2020 - key speakers and debates

We are delighted to be holding our 'Infrastructure 2020' forum at Herbert Smith Freehills' London headquarters next to Liverpool Street Station at Exchange House, Primrose Street.

This leading global law firm - placed in the UK's top ten law firms in 2019 - has advised on many major infrastructure and real estate projects, including the £4.2 London Tideway Super Sewer where it advised the Bazalgette Consortium on its successful bid to undertake the financing, constructing, operation and maintenance of the project. Further afield, it has advised on the $9.7 billion privatisation of the Port of Melbourne.

In the real estate area, the firm has advised on the sale of 50% of the new Watermark leisure complex in Southampton, one of the largest restaurant and leisure complexes in the UK and for Lendlease on the successful tender to develop Sydney's Barangaroo South development, Australia's largest urban renewal project since Olympic Park and the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Our keynote speaker for the forum is Dyan Crowther, CEO, HS1, who will be presenting on 'High-speed rail's role in driving economies and connected communities'. This will be followed by a panel discussion with Matthew Vickerstaff, Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Project Finance at the Infrastructure & Projects Authority, Liam McKay, Board Director, London City Airport and Nathan Marsh, Chief Digital Officer at Costain.

Among the questions posed will be those on sustainability concerns, infrastructure project delivery, digital risk and resilience, new rail routes and managing the increasing number of air passengers into London, as a cultural destination.

Our second panel of the morning picks up on in the drive to improve cultural and social infrastructure in the UK's towns and cities. Steve Cox, Director of Economy and Place at Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council will be describing the developments to accommodate Peterborough's population growth, the campaign to position the city as a tourism destination and the necessary improvements to road networks and rail.

Evolving smart technology and sustainability sets the theme for our third panel debate with a focus on the issues around housing delivery in the new garden towns and communities of Essex and Kent. Steve Evison, Director for Strategic Commissioning for Place and Health, at Essex County Council is running the North Essex Garden Communities project, will talk about the complexity of meeting the UK government's targets on housing with supporting infrastructure.

Our two forum workshops will focus on the above themes, with directed questions, illustrative maps and aim to collate important research on these current and vital projects. All content will be written up in a report circulated to our online community of government, local authorities, investors, developers, planners and architects.

Timings

9 am Coffee and networking

9.30 am Key speaker address : Dyan Crowther, CEO HS1

9.45 am Panel 1 – How do we build the UK economy through future infrastructure investment?

Matthew Vickerstaff (Head of Project Finance and Deputy Chief Executive, Infrastructure & Projects Authority), Dyan Crowther (HS1), Nathan Marsh (Chief Digital Officer, Costain), and Liam McKay (Director of Public Affairs, London City Airport)

10.15 am Panel 2 – How do we use infrastructure investment as a catalyst for town and city centre regeneration and where should we put the design and development focus for long term sustainability?

Steve Cox (Director of Economy & Place, Peterborough City Council / Cambridgshire County Council), Alex Williams (Head of City Planning, Transport for London), Tim Partington (Partner, Chapman Taylor Architects), and Matthew White (Parter and Head of Panning - Real Estate - Herbert Smith Freehills)

10.45 am Workshop 1: Planning case study - Peterborough city regeneration

How do we achieve the best balance between residential, workspace and retail development in our historic city centres?

11.15 am Panel 3 – How does national planning need to evolve to incorporate innovations in transport and mobility, technology and the move to low carbon energy?

Steve Evison (Director, Strategic Commissioning - Place and Health, Essex County Council), Dominic Eaton (Director, Stride Treglown), Tom Perry (Head of Architecture and Built Environment, The Design Council) and Kim Faithfull-Wright (Head of Smart Places, Costain)

11.45 am Workshop 2: Planning case study - North Essex Garden Communities

How can we re-design towns for sustainable transport and mobility, low carbon energy and make our infrastructure 'smarter'?

12.15 pm Feedback and conclusions

12.30 pm Lunch