• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 11 July 2001

Lord Rogers, you did mention Roehampton which is in my patch. I am not only a Wandsworth Councillor but a Putney Councillor. I have spent a lot of time in Roehampton and when it was built, I think by Herbert Morison, who had the view - rather paternalistic - that people who were desperate for homes did not mind living in matchboxes on top of each other as long as they could look out on a green aspect. Well I can assure you that really is not so. I have to say that Wandsworth Council has poured money into Roehampton...

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 11 July 2001

How do you respond to the MORI Poll that says that most Londoners oppose the construction of high-rise buildings?

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 11 July 2001

This is about tall buildings. First of all, high-rise in my understanding does not always mean high density. Because it depends on the planning. And I would like you to explain that a bit. And the second thing is, how do you respond to the MORI poll that found that most Londoners oppose the construction of high-rise buildings?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 11 July 2001

An interesting point about quality and density, which obviously is relevant particularly to the spatial development policies and the proposals in the Towards the London Plan document. I would be interested to know to what extent you have been consulted by the Mayor on the proposals document that we have currently got, Towards the London Plan, what input you have had into that?

• Question by: Sally Hamwee
• Meeting date: 11 July 2001

Would it be right, though I do not much like the word myself, to say that one needs to have a holistic approach then?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 11 July 2001

I take your point about post war development but I also bear in mind the fact that no architect has ever said that the development they built was quantity led rather than quality led. Every development that has ever been built we have been told is beautiful in its time. The problem is it does not look so fashionable 30 years later. A lot of our densely populated areas are not pleasant to live in. How do you feel we can mitigate overcrowding in a poor environment with green space, particularly given the Mayor's demands that we also produce a...

• Question by: Eric Ollerenshaw
• Meeting date: 11 July 2001

If I can explain my prejudice in terms of this. First of all the Georgian density, are people talking about density in Georgian times with all those servants crammed into the cellars or are they talking about Georgian density now? But my real prejudice is that the real high densities I have seen are system-built, architect-designed estates, where certain categories of people were ghettoised, and are still ghettoised, in buildings, which when people have got a choice, they get out of as rapidly as possible. Now my worry is if we go down this high-density argument it is those people...

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 01 January 2001

Well, cheers, because that will save the MPA authority receiving petitions from every borough group who want to keep a front station open. But would you then agree that we have to look very carefully at this situation about manning them with volunteers, because there is a real problem in police front-counters in that the civilian staff who are well-trained, take the dealing with the public through the difficult issues, but the problems build up through people not being able to ask a simple question which they don't have to queue for and don't need to wait an hour to...

• Question by: Tony Arbour
• Meeting date: 01 January 2001

Can I say how much I welcome the idea of the police bus and the police shop. It is absolutely right that the police should be taken to where the people want them to be, but returning to volunteers, would you agree with me that it is better that we have a front desk kept open by volunteers rather than no front desk at all?

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 01 January 2001

Okay, obviously that should be welcomed and I favour police pods in high streets myself [laughter]. We won't go into that at the moment, but will the Chair of the Authority reassure me that with the move to borough policing that a number of the commanders have in their heads, I believe, the idea of a very modern, centralised new police station which may be obtained by PFI means, and will he assure me that they will not be encouraged before the policing contact points have spread throughout the borough, i.e. there will be no move to further centralisation prior...