• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 27 March 2002

I appreciate that you are restrained by the remit that you are elected under and so on, but what you are saying is that de facto London needs to plan beyond its boundaries in the east and there may be other places as well. I have been worried about your draft SDS in that you draw an artificial boundary. I think you need to do more to address that problem and I would be failing in my job if I didn't also mention Crossrail of course, because if you don't put the transport infrastructure in then you are not going...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 27 March 2002

: I wanted to return to the root of the question, but the point about school sites is a very important one and I don't know whether my group is going to punish me for this but I am totally behind you on the principle of what you are saying about open space and I think a lot of work needs to be done on that. But my question on population projections and on growth in London is: do you think it makes sense for your SDS and other work to work co-operatively with adjoining local authorities such as Thurrock...

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 27 March 2002

Grant increase is very welcome and very necessary, but it's about a lot more than that, isn't it? There are some very major decisions that need to be taken if London is to get the sort of infrastructure it will need to absorb a population increase of the size of the city of Leeds in only ten years. In planning terms that's a very short period. The Mayor of London needs to be taking the lead in this and engaging with all the various players in what is loosely called London Government to achieve the necessary decisions, the rebuilding of...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 27 March 2002

I will talk to Mike Ward about the way in which we now amend what has already been written in terms of documents. This is a case for all the strategies. We will come back and look at it.

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 27 March 2002

You said there that it's sustainable provided quick decisions are taken. Our system, rightly or wrongly, militates against any quick decisions on anything significant. What are you doing to unite all the London agencies, the boroughs, the LDA and so on to take these quick and right decisions?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 27 March 2002

I am interested to see the way you described the Bromley case as being such a clear test of principle, when I got the impression that you were saying that if there had been a trade off and a quid pro quo it would have all been all right. It's a funny sort of principle that's so easily overcome, but I think you accept there is a real need and pressure on school places in the London Borough of Bromley?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 27 March 2002

And I'd like to hear more from you, obviously not now but over the coming months, about how you are going to work with those adjoining areas which very much have our objectives in common. I think that's very important for Londoners. Could I ask one other question then, which is about the schools issue and open space? I have a feeling, and again this is something where a Mayor of London might be able to offer leadership, that there is a real problem with public assets which have been disposed of too readily in the past and which are...

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 27 March 2002

What you are saying to us then is that we will maintain and protect both Metropolitan Open Land and Green Belt around London? That in the next 14 years we will house, employ, educate, enable to travel an additional 700,000 people and still be sustainable and still protect and improve the environment of London?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 27 March 2002

These are Green Belt. Because in Southwark I think it's Metropolitan Open Land not Green Belt. Are you therefore saying that you will also defend vigorously existing Metropolitan Open Land?

• Question by: Graham Tope
• Meeting date: 27 March 2002

I don't know the particular Bromley sites, but are you confusing Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land?