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

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

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.

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?

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.

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).

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

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...

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.

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!