• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

How are you going to kick start that process of listening?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

Do you recognise at the moment though that there is strong opinion in favour of keeping the site as open parkland rather than building on it?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

How are you going to take things forward? You have mentioned some sort of consultation process with the local community.

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

You say there is no quick solution, no quick process, but surely if you were to restore the site as open parkland and do it properly and integrate bio-diversity in the plans and all the rest of it, that would be a lot quicker than wrangling over a development for years and years to come.

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

Two of the neighbouring boroughs are actually led by the Liberal Democrats. I do hope that in all respects we will keep political harmony. Would you not agree?

• Question by: Mike Tuffrey
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

As someone who grew up in the area, my father before me remembers using Crystal Palace and he actually saw the fire. I can still remember him describing what he witnessed when he grew up in Beckenham where he was living. Is the Mayor aware that both personally and politically we will be very supportive? Can I urge him to be careful of the politics of the thing? I think Val would be the last person who would want this to be entangled in the forthcoming election. Clearly, she has an electoral interest.

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

I suppose I should declare an interest as a resident of the Crystal Palace area, we are going into this so intensively. Would you agree that in terms of any discussion about the top site that we do not just need to have a safety assessment done in terms of the soil chemistry, but there are also potential structural issues on the terraces? If we are going to make the park serve the people of the area we will need to have a proper safety assessment done, as well as an environmental impact assessment before we can decide how to...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

): Does it come to this, that you do not rule out in fact recognising that it may well be an appropriate commercial development (I accept all the caveats) which could actually be beneficial both to the sports package and the future developments that we might both want to see?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

I agree that it is an eyesore at the moment; it is an absolute dump. What is your preference: to see it restored as open parkland, or to see some sort of development on it?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 17 December 2003

People were clearly unhappy with those outrageous proposals for the cinema last time round. A local poll showed 83% of the local community of households in the area actually wanted the top site to remain as open parkland.