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• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 10 November 2007

Yes, you are absolutely right. London generates an enormous amount of wealth - according to the London Chamber of Commerce about £13 - £20 billion - which is then taken by the Government and used to subsidise the rest of the country, if not Scotland. We can certainly do with more money. As far as Crossrail is concerned, the Mayor has said that is probably the most important project, even more important than the Olympics. Nevertheless, the Government still found themselves with a shortfall of over £300 million and turned to the City to stump up yet more money in...

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

Well, I would have thought that the purpose of the LDA was to provide London with jobs and economic development. Personally, I do not really see the rationale for spending so much money which could have been directed elsewhere, to jobs for young people, whatever, on the Caribbean Showcase, when the Notting Hill Carnival was going on at the same time. I cannot make that connection, I am afraid. I just think that it is extraordinary that you should spend the money in this way.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

That equates to a very neat and tidy solution. You move the allotment holders off to Marsh Lane for a period of approximately seven years, I understand, and then you move them back to another site approximately close to where they are now. Unfortunately it is not going to work terribly well because it takes over seven years to establish a new allotment site. Frankly, if the plot holder is going to be facing two moves within seven years, a lot of them will simply give up. Perhaps the diehards will carry on, but I do not see that this...

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

May I put something to you? Here is a quotation from the Olympics designers, `What makes architecture exciting is the ultimate connection with everyday life, communities, topographies, things that are already there. We talk about growing rather than deploying projects. This comes out of an interest in discovering, experimenting rather than producing or perfecting what we know'. That is Farshad Masali, the Olympic designer. Now a little bit of out of the box thinking could surely do something. What you are proposing is, levelling the land, reducing it by eight metres and building a concrete path, a massive great concrete...

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

And that site, in fact, is rubble from World War 2, with just a brief covering of topsoil, so quite how successful it will be as an allotment site is open to question. What we are destroying here is an allotment site which has been there for nigh on 100 years and was left in perpetuity by Major Villiers to allotment holders.

• Reference: 2006/0228-1
• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 11 October 2006

The LDA has said that the 100-year-old Manor Gardens allotments in Newham, bequeathed by Major Villiers to be allotments in perpetuity, will have to be concreteted over to make way for a footpath needed for the four week 'green' Olympics. Manor Gardens is all about exactly what Ken Livingstone always says he's trying to encourage - healthy living, social inclusion, sustainability, eco-living, encouraging a sense of togetherness among a diverse local community. These allotments are an oasis in the middle of an industrial desert, and a real lifeline for many. Is there not some way in which destruction of this...

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 18 January 2006

If I could dwell on examples, there has been some press speculation about the quota of business-class or first-class transatlantic flights that are afforded to you. There has been speculation about the catering bills; some cuttings from the Evening Standard suggest you are fed to a far higher standard than humble Assembly Members, for example. There has been other stuff like that, and I suppose it may be viewed as nosiness but I guess there is an aspect of public interest as to what perks there are around your employment and whether there is a transparency and understanding about those.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 18 January 2006

You had a new roof, but obviously that has to be fixed. Nevertheless, £108,000 for external maintenance seems a huge sum even if you had a new roof and had it painted twice.

• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 18 January 2006

During the time that you have been resident at the house, there have been various expenditures on it. I believe the total, if my information is correct, comes to just over £138,000. Some of that has been external work and some of that has been internal work, but that does seem to be an inordinately large sum considering that when the house was purchased it was described as being restored and modernised to an exceptionally high standard.

• Reference: 2005/0140-1
• Question by: Peter Hulme Cross
• Meeting date: 06 April 2005

In your view how successful has the PPP been since its inception, has it delivered value for money, and how do you see the way forward? ... Following on from that I have a simple question. If PPP is deemed not to be worth it, what alternative is there? Is there a viable alternative?