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Canary Wharf director who sits on TfL board urged to declare Cycle Superhighway "conflict of interests"

LCC says Peter Anderson should rule homself out of TfL discussions after blogger Danny Williams highlights dual role

London Cycling Campaign (LCC) has joined one of the capital's leading cycling bloggers in calling on a director of Canary Wharf Group who also sits on the board of Transport for London (TfL) to rule himself out of discussions relating to planned Cycle Superhighways due to what it terms "a clear conflict of interest.”

Last week, Canary Wharf Group, which owns and manages the estate in Docklands that constitutes the capital’s second business district after the City of London, confirmed that it was behind an anonymous briefing note circulated to businesses and press in the capital opposing TfL’s plans.

A spokesman for the group, quoted by Peter Williams in the Guardian last Friday, confirmed that it was responsible for the document and said that the business was “extremely concerned about the design and traffic impact of the current proposals.”

Danny Williams of the blog Cyclists in the City, who first identified Canary Wharf Group as being behind the briefing note, is now calling on its finance director, Peter Anderson, to rule himself ineligible from being involved in decisions relating to the planned cross-London Cycle Superhighways, currently in consultation phase.

He says that Mr Anderson’s positions with TfL and Canary Wharf Group represent a conflict of interests under the Greater London Authority Act 1999, which requires that in such circumstances “the member shall not take part in any deliberation or decision of Transport for London, or any of its committees or sub-committees, with respect to that matter.”

The blogger also points out that besides being on TfL’s board, Mr Anderson also chairs its Finance & Policy Committee, which will decide on 25 November whether or not to approve funding for the routes.

He urges that he immediately make a full disclosure of his interest in the matter resulting from his position with Canary Wharf Group, as well as the lobbying the company has undertaken relating to its opposition to the Cycle Superhighways.

Mr Anderson’s current declaration of interests on the TfL website, dated May this year – four months before the consultation into the Cycle Superhighways, scheduled to run until 9 November, began – makes no mention of them.

That’s possibly because the schemes had not yet been formally announced, but many would argue that now they have, and Canary Wharf Group has gone public in its opposition, that declaration of interests should be brought up to date.

LCC’s campaigns manager, Rosie Downes, said: “There is a very clear conflict of interest here. Thousands of Londoners have responded in support of the superhighway proposals; the Mayor of London has said himself that it’s time to reallocate road space; companies like RBS, Orange and Unilever have publicly supported the plans.

“Yet despite the overwhelming support for the plans, they’re at risk because of one extremely powerful individual who sits on the Transport for London board – whose vision of London does not reflect in any way what the rest of us want to see.”

She continued: “[TfL commissioner] Sir Peter Hendy has said himself that London will face overwhelming overcrowding. Promoting cycling is essential to keeping London moving. At the same time Canary Wharf Group will be putting countless HGVs on our roads to facilitate the £1.3 billion redevelopment of the Shell Centre [on the South Bank close to the London Eye – ed].

“Without protected space for cycling - space that Londoners were promised when they elected the Mayor of London – we will see more deaths on London’s roads. And if that protected space doesn’t materialise due to the vested interests of one board member whose employer is proactively making our roads more dangerous, Transport for London will have some very difficult questions to answer,” she concluded.

More than 70 organisations spanning the public and private sectors in fields such as construction, healthcare, the law, media and professional services and together employing tens of thousands of people have now publicly supported the Cycle Superhighways through the Cycling Works website.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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12 comments

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arfa | 9 years ago
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Let's just remind ourselves of the origins of canary wharf group. They buy land at the arse end of London in the depth of recession for the square root of sweet fa at the opposite end of the city to where all the airport infrastructure is. They then complain about the lack of infrastructure connections and now their finance director wants to argue against cycle lanes as it's not on his agenda (just how did this guy end up on TfL 's board I do not know).
In fact I do want to know, who hired him and how does he warrant his place on TfL's board, especially as it would appear he is someone who is chauffeured in and out of work.
All answers gratefully received and if I am wrong I am happy to swallow my words

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arfa | 9 years ago
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Jude87 can you evidence that he is driven in every day from Kent ? If so, this really needs to be in the public domain so that the man's personal selfish agenda is exposed for all to see.

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Jude87 | 9 years ago
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Peter Anderson actually lives in the heart of the Kent countryside and is chauffer driven to work every day. Why is he on any TFL board in the first place?

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bikebot | 9 years ago
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It seems Andrew Gilligan made some comments about this matter during his appearance on the transport committee at City Hall yesterday.

They're taking legal advice on whether he can be excluded.

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CanAmSteve | 9 years ago
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I have read that over 90% of Londoners do not drive to work and that car ownership in inner London is declining (feel free to confirm/refute).

http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/census-data-car-free-house...

So I wonder why any business in any part of London would worry much about car traffic. Certainly it is odd that a financial services centre would care - most of their work involves electronic communications I would expect. Most of the workers would actually get to work or the airport or wherever using some form of public transport.

Really, the only people who drive in London - who own cars and use them for transportation - are a very elite, well-paid few who just happen to be in positions of influence, such as Mr. Anderson.

Here is a person actively sabotaging progress in cycling safety for what end? So his chauffeured car can transport him from some leafy suburb to Canary Wharf slightly more quickly? I doubt very much that many of his underlings have that luxury.

London really comes down to a city for the cars of the rich. You can see it in the pedestrian crossings (there are many places where pedestrians are expected to cross in three stages so as not to inconvenience cars). You can see it in the lack of cycling infrastructure, and in the punishing restrictions on motorcycles and scooters (almost everywhere in Europe you can park a scooter/MC anywhere it isn't actually blocking traffic or peds - in London they continue to reduce the few legal parking areas available).

The Congestion Zone was actually a gift to the rich - a few pounds a day doesn't inconvenience the man in the Porsche or Bentley. Rather, it clears the riff-raff off the streets.

And cycles... I mean, what aspirational Canary Wharf worker would dare show up on a bicycle? You may as well tell the Big Boss you voted Labour.

(I forgot to mention the Evening Pravda tabloid, whose offices in Kensington are accessed by editors in cars availing themselves of free parking, no doubt. So they tend to fulminate against cycles and buses and parking enforcement as it interferes with them popping out to lunch in Notting Hill).

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Mr Will replied to CanAmSteve | 9 years ago
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Canary Wharf is not in Central London - it is in the east end. These proposals will do little to benefit Canary Wharf but will do a lot to improve access to it's chief rival - the City of London.

Opposition to the proposal isn't about making things easier for car drivers. It's about making the City of London harder to get to.

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Simon_MacMichael replied to CanAmSteve | 9 years ago
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CanAmSteve wrote:

Really, the only people who drive in London - who own cars and use them for transportation - are a very elite, well-paid few who just happen to be in positions of influence, such as Mr. Anderson.

Seriously? Go stand for half an hour on Walworth Road near Elephant & Castle, or Caledonian Road near Kings Cross - to take two locations not far from the centre - and you may change your mind.

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teaboy replied to CanAmSteve | 9 years ago
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CanAmSteve wrote:

Really, the only people who drive in London - who own cars and use them for transportation - are a very elite, well-paid few who just happen to be in positions of influence, such as Mr. Anderson.

London really comes down to a city for the cars of the rich. You can see it in the pedestrian crossings (there are many places where pedestrians are expected to cross in three stages so as not to inconvenience cars). You can see it in the lack of cycling infrastructure, and in the punishing restrictions on motorcycles and scooters (almost everywhere in Europe you can park a scooter/MC anywhere it isn't actually blocking traffic or peds - in London they continue to reduce the few legal parking areas available).

What are you classing as "London" here? There are plenty of people who own and use cars to travel in Greater London who are about as far from the "very elite, well-paid few" as it's possible to get.

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bikewithnoname | 9 years ago
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The Canary Wharf estate itself makes next to zero provisions for cyclists, no cycle lanes, no cycle advance boxes, cyclists directed onto unmarked pavements which puts pedestrians in danger (Bank St). Given the clear lack of thought given to cycle safety on thier own private property I certainly don't think their view will be postive in a wider context

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jacknorell | 9 years ago
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Well, let's see if he excuses himself from the discussion, one does not necessarily lead to another. Though would open any negative decision to legal action...

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bikebot | 9 years ago
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The role of another board member, Bob Oddy, is also very questionable.

Mr Oddy is Deputy General Secretary of the LTDA. The LTDA is actively campaigning against ALL cycling expenditure in London, not just this project.

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Metjas | 9 years ago
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It seems Anderson's interests have now been updated on the TfL website, including his role with Canary Wharf Group.

Good journalistic work from Danny Williams and co!

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