Member

The next issue that the review might consider is the funding of Lee Valley Regional Park. I know that my dear friend the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, would say that I have the bit between the teeth—but I do. The current funding is a legacy from the old GLC. That means that all London boroughs, together with Hertfordshire, Essex and Thurrock, provide the running costs of about £11 million per year. Interestingly, the Lee Valley website suggests that the contribution from taxpayer levy equates to about 90p per person per year, but of course the benefit of accessibility is not the same for all those contributing. Many of those councils might be geographically quite far away from the park, meaning that not many of their residents even know of it, let alone visit it, but they are taxpayers contributing sizeable sums every year that could be spent locally on their own parks and open spaces. Is it time to consider whether that is right and whether there is an alternative?