• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 13 March 2002

If I can draw your attention to another good example in my neck of the woods: it's the 272 route which London Buses have announced is going to be a new service going down two roads right in the far western corner of my constituency, Emlyn and Larden Roads. Now, the vast majority of residents are completely opposed to having a bus down that road. They point out that nearby Askew Road is a much more appropriate road for the bus to use. I am even more concerned because, having raised this issue with TfL, I got a response back...

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 13 March 2002

Thank you very much for that. Everyone accepts that your bus strategy is beginning to work and that buses are running on more and different routes from before, but what this question is driving at is that to fulfil that part of your strategy, which says that everyone shall live within 400 metres of a bus route, does mean that hitherto quiet, suburban roads are being treated - if treated is the right word - to very substantial buses, in terms of size, which are suited to a more urban route rather than suburban route. If I can give you...

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 13 March 2002

So the question is the timetable

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 13 March 2002

You do have the power to direct and I would like some information on how this study is progressing and I think maybe not asking for you to answer it now would be more appropriate, but I would like to be written to with the timetable as far as you see it, and when you think it would be appropriate to use your powers of direction.

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 13 March 2002

My question then is, can we please have a timetable for this particular study and at what point you will be having conversations with the boroughs?

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 13 March 2002

But you did not answer my question about the consultation, which was what I was after, and you have already said that you are going to do a South London rail study. You did say that at Mayor's Question time some time ago. This has now sunk into the veritable black hole. Are you proposing to consult with boroughs in order to complete that study, in which case can they look forward to hearing from you in the next month?

• Question by: Samantha Heath
• Meeting date: 13 March 2002

Trevor Philips: Can I just ask officers to make sure that that gets on the agenda for Bureau leaders this afternoon? Let us start the process right away. Samantha Heath: On consultation, did you actually consult with boroughs before you wrote to Railtrack Property to ask them to keep the Braithwaite Viaduct?

• Question by: Andrew Pelling
• Meeting date: 13 March 2002

Can I say before I start that I do feel that when senior management from Street Management in TfL attend meetings with members of the public, they show a very high calibre of knowledge of the issues on which they are consulting. I am very pleased that you say that you want to change the culture. I will give you an example as regards to the red route proposals on the A22. I attended a residents meeting yesterday, which Transport for London did not attend, advising the residents association it was not the kind of thing that they did. And...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 13 March 2002

I don't get a sense this is a big priority though.

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 13 March 2002

I think we recognise and respect that principle and I don't want to take up time at the meeting exploring it further, but one tiny supplementary which is about transparency and access to information, because very often people, when they haven't got what they want, are aggrieved that they think things have happened behind closed doors and TfL have got a very much closed door reputation at the moment. Can you state in very simple terms, how you are going to open those doors up?