• Question by: Toby Harris
• Meeting date: 27 February 2002

It probably is true that most people use buses in the outer area, because no one in his right mind would try to get a bus from the outside right into the centre of London. Many people do want to commute in, and they do so, by and large, by Underground. Under those circumstances, what confidence are you able to give people living outside zone 1 in the outer-London areas about Underground and rail services, given the prospect of yet another strike next week? What is your attitude to that? What message are you sending to Londoners?

• Question by: Toby Harris
• Meeting date: 27 February 2002

Well, that adds up to a vision, but it seems to suggest a vision in which most of the suburbs will simply be looking at new routes out for their residents perhaps into a few nodes around the centre. Could we try to find some specifics? What specific plans do you have to improve bus services in outer London? You said that was what you intended to do: what are your specific plans, apart, of course, from the London bus initiative, which we all understand and worship?

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

Returning to outer London, you reported the great success of your London bus initiative, but I think we are all aware that the relationship with the boroughs is in a terrible state and needs to be repaired. Have you made any progress with your proposal to review travelcard boundaries, another outer London issue which causes a lot of grief?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 27 February 2002

Would you simply say whether or not you disapprove of the Royal Parks Agency limiting the access of Londoners to the park in the ways they currently propose?

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 27 February 2002

One aspect you did not mention in your list is the function of the open spaces, particularly the Royal Parks, in outer London, which represent a major lung for central London and a major amenity for south-west London. Would you care to tell us how the SDS is going to deal with its relationship with the Royal Parks Agency, who seem hell-bent on limiting access to the Royal Parks by Londoners? They have a current proposal to close the Robin Hood gate in Richmond Park. They have a proposal to close the Pen Ponds car park, which is the principal...

• Question by: Toby Harris
• Meeting date: 27 February 2002

That was all very fine and interesting. It was a little difficult to disentangle from that what you are actually going to do to enhance the role of outer-London suburbs, or what your vision for those suburbs could be. Is it your vision that Harrow should become like Hackney, or that Barnet should become like Barking, or do you have some clearer vision of what you want the outer-London suburbs to look like - and if so, how do you expect to get there?

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 27 February 2002

What about gate closures - Robin Hood gate in particular?

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 27 February 2002

My question follows on from Tony Arbour's, about the Royal Parks Agency's proposals for Richmond Park. My understanding is that TfL had not been consulted this time, although they were consulted on the closure during the foot and mouth outbreak. I understand that TfL do have concerns about this latest proposal, about the traffic impact on local roads and bus routes. During the foot and mouth outbreak, Alton Road on the Roehampton estate was monitored as taking 1,800 cars an hour during the peak periods. That road just cannot take that sort of congestion. Roehampton is a residential area, with...

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

Do you accept, though, that one of the reasons that many people choose to live in outer London, and put up with the hassle of commuting and so on, is precisely because they want for themselves and their families the extra space that comes from comparative low density, and that to attack that is to attack the very fabric and the very point of the suburbs in the first place, and damages the quality of life that makes people want to live there?

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

I thought that, by way of novelty, I would ask you a question about the Spatial Development Strategy. In your first response, you referred to making more efficient and intensive use of land in the suburbs. Would you accept that that might raise concerns among many people who live in the suburbs that it is code for a significant increase in density of development in the suburbs? What reassurance can you give to people on that?