GEORGE Osborne’s reference to ‘Road, Rail and Runway’ at the Conservative party conference in Manchester set a clear position of intent.

Major projects are very much on the government agenda and the appointment of the Labour Peer Lord Adonis to lead the new National Infrastructure Commission shows a strong commitment to making these happen.

The Chancellor appears to be frustrated with planning constraints in the UK and perceives our position on development as being way behind other industrialised countries, such as Japan and Germany.

So with a future which includes HS2 and possibly HS3 one question has got to be where is the money going to come from? On the energy front new-build nuclear is going to be funded from China, in a recent deal struck. Curiously Chinese technology is noted in this new initiative.

With Warrington being one of the world’s leading nuclear engineering centres let’s hope that our talent in that area is not overlooked.

While it is important to get projects moving forward, then it’s also important to protect and invest in the knowledge accumulated within an organisation and industry.

Especially when it is a critical part of making the whole country work. Totally invaluable.

LAWRENCE Bellamy is associate dean at the University of Chester's Padgate campus and writes a regular column for business