Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure. It's going to be a recurring theme for CEW in 2017 and especially the wider Welsh economy. Why? Because it holds the key to developing our country and creating the built environment legacy we need to provide for future generations. Almost all the stories in this issue of our newsletter relate to infrastructure of some kind. One or two even point to a vision for Wales.

In Wednesday’s Western Mail the CEW column called for support of the Government’s National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICFW). We are backing it, so are fellow industry representative groups ICE Wales, CECA Wales, ACE, CIWM, CIWEM and APS have put forward a joint response. And guess what? We all think that a NICFW is a great idea, a formal remit and the responsibility to develop a vision for Wales.

There is vision in Wales for schemes and ideas such as the development of Cardiff Airport, plans for Cardiff itself and even the Swansea Tidal Lagoon are great examples. But are they tied together? Are they good ideas that stand alone, or part of tighter overall plan? Is this ‘plan’ one that transcends political timeframes and the usual constraints of budgets normally tied to an election calendar. Projects such as these must sit within a 20, 30 or even 50-year strategic vision. This must be for the whole of Wales too. Cardiff might gain publicity now, but what about the north, west and east of Wales. Any infrastructure vison must address the whole country, all communities and cut across departments, authorities and sectors. It must bind us together.

Foresight is what we need right now. The foresight of a combined industry and political community serving our future generations.