• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 19 June 2002

Well, I don't want to repeat a lot of the points that have been made, but I would ask that you avail yourself of a copy of the debate that we had at the Assembly last week on this very issue where I think you'll find there is a clear majority view that says that East London does need some investment in its road capacity if it's going to regenerate. I just make two points, one which came up in that debate and another. The first is that the Whitelegg Report is just one of several reports and, although it's...

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 19 June 2002

I'm really seeking an assurance that, if the crossings go ahead, you'll give priority to public transport, to cycling and to walking. The Silvertown crossing you've just now moved further into the distance but, if that one were to go ahead, wouldn't it be an ideal opportunity to link up your two new busway schemes - the Greenwich Waterfront Scheme and the East London transit scheme - with a new link that went from South Greenwich using the bridge through Silvertown across East London? Will you now give an agreement to consider that as an option for a very good...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 19 June 2002

Whilst I'm sure that residents will be pleased to hear that you have no immediate plans to place a toll, they will be alarmed by another part of your answer which suggested congestion charges be extended to the Blackwall Tunnel. What representations have you had from local residents and bodies affecting the area that they would actually want that to happen?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 19 June 2002

Your support for the river crossings is welcome, Mr Mayor, but will you give an undertaking to East Londoners that you will not introduce tolls on the Blackwall Tunnel?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 19 June 2002

Whilst I accept that you, as Mayor, would never sanction an annex to the road through Oxleas - I take your guarantees at face value - however there is a very strong case to say that it will create such a bottleneck that it will become irresistible for a future mayor to then want to extend the road through Oxleas Wood. Would you feel at all guilty if you were sat in your retirement cottage in Brighton in 20 years time and you saw that your road scheme has actually resulted in a road being extended through Oxleas Wood and...

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 19 June 2002

Your positive commitment to the river crossings package will be warmly welcomed by all shades of opinion in the London Borough of Bexley which has lost out significantly in economic development terms through the lack of river crossings. Will you perhaps be able to reassure residents of Bexley that those warm words will be put into action in two regards? Will you endorse the observation of your economic advisor that, to get the maximum regeneration benefits from the Thames Gateway, it's necessary to pursue not only the package of river crossings, but also the construction of the Crossrail line through...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 19 June 2002

That's welcome news. Are you prepared to scrap the idea of the bridges if the environmental case against them and the transport case against them is so overwhelming?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 19 June 2002

You said last week in the Environment Committee that in transport terms there was no real value in these bridge proposals and that it was purely done on the basis of regeneration. Are the environmental impacts going to get a look in? Are you going to have a proper environmental impact assessment before you complete the consultation period?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 19 June 2002

Are we to receive any formal response from you to the Whitelegg Report and the analysis in that report that traffic levels are likely to rise very significantly as a result of these bridges, that air quality will suffer very significantly because of the extra traffic and that there is little or no prospect of extra jobs, in spite of the huge amount of money being spent on them? Are you going to respond formally to the Whitelegg Report?

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 19 June 2002

Did you lobby specifically for funding from tolling for the Silvertown Bridge during the recent Dome negotiations?