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• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 10 November 2007

And what is the answer to my question? Why did nobody provide coaches, buses or train tickets and depend on the parents driving 300-mile round trips every weekend?

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 10 November 2007

My final question is to Seb. Seb, does it worry you, as I am sure it should, that we keep reading things in the press about divers having to go to Sheffield and cyclists having to drive round the M25 in rush hour during the week in order to be able to train? Nobody could have foreseen that there were going to be problems with Crystal Palace? Surely these are the people that you are trying to inspire; these are the people that you are reaching out to so successfully. Once you realised that these people had to go to...

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 10 November 2007

Can I go back to the sustainability announcement that was alluded to earlier and is presumably what you were just referring to, Seb. What is that? Is that further commitments or is that the reality behind the commitments that have already been given? That is the first question. Then in terms of the scope of it, you have said it was kind of biodiversity and so forth, but is it sustainability in an economic, social and environmental sense or is it essentially still environmental-related commitments?

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

.... I would just draw your attention, if you have not already seen it, to the evidence we received from the London Sustainable Development Commission. That is in a letter dated 20 September, where they basically draw attention to the very positive work that is going on, but they do make the point that in relation to legacy aspects, where the full sustainability, as it were, comes to be seen, that further work needs to be done on that. It particularly says, `Should the bid be successful, there needs to be a greater understanding of the sustainability aspects of the...

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Well, they may choose to take their holidays at home, indeed. I think that it is something that, supporting the Games as we do, we would like to keep an eye on the calculations for. Can I also ask about the Paralympics? We are also enthusiastic about those, and I was glad to hear you mention them earlier, but they have problems with attendance, as well. Presumably this is marketing that needs to go on from now about what a good event the Paralympics is. Is there anything you can say about that?

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

My question is whether marketing the parallel Olympics is something that goes into the bid as starting very early indeed.

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Thank you. Can I first of all say that we are very enthusiastic supporters of the bid. I think it will be absolutely brilliant, not just for London, but for the UK, and we will do everything we can to help secure the bid. You mentioned quite a few issues there. You have covered transport, legacy, security, and finance. Could I ask you about access? One of the things that are very important is that the Games are accessible for all sections of the community, and we know from the Mayor's recent report that one in five households in London...

• Question by: Dee Doocey
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Thank you, Chair. I have one further question. I would also like, if possible, for you to deal with the question of volunteers. Could you tell me how you plan to engage the large army of volunteers that will be necessary to run the Games, so that they are more than just `meeters and greeters', and that they get totally immersed in all aspects of the Games, in the run-up to, during, and after the Games?

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

Is there not a bit of a dilemma at the heart of this? I am not sure whether it is the Mayor who can help answer it. On the one hand, we are all passionate about the Games as a nation, and a lot of people are going to be attending. On the other hand, there is a mass exodus from London which frees up space on public transport. Can you have both of those statements?

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 13 October 2004

All the discussion of the finances so far has focused on the cost side. Can I try to focus on the benefits side and ask what will be published as part of the case-making and the building of public support in terms of projections around the economic benefits - jobs, tax revenues, extra visitors, hotels, etc.? There ought to be a very positive economic case for this, and I fear it is not getting out.