Plenary session of the London Assembly with two lots of witnesses before us – the LDA (London Development Agency) in the form of Chief Exec Manny Lewis and Chair Honor Chapman, and the Thames Gateway lot with five witnesses from various partnership bodies.

I was not supposed to be doing anything on the LDA bit – but opportunity knocked suddenly at my door. At our previous LibDem council group meeting in Haringey we had had a presentation by local residents who felt they had been ignored by Haringey Council in the development of proposals for the Haringey Heartlands scheme.

These residents and their associations had invested all their time and energy in trying to work with the Labour MP and the local Labour council administration. When finally they realised they had been ignored, they had come to us as a last resort.

So I’m sitting in the Assembly chamber and the Chief Exec of the LDA – which is funding some of the Heartlands scheme – is wittering on about sustainability being the absolutely vital condition of their funding and that this is paramount.

Yet many of the residents’ concerns over the scheme are precisely about sustainability – e.g. there is no plan for education and skills, no clear idea where jobs would be created and there is a poor transport scheme which will turn the new area into one big rat run.

As I said, opportunity knocked, and I asked Manny Lewis if residents unhappy with the proposals on the grounds of sustainability could come to anyone at the LDA with their problems. He said the man to see was Tony Winterbottom, Director of Regeneration. So I went on ask could they come and see him directly and, of course, he had to say yes.

So at last, a chink in the armour – a breakthrough for residents to at least be heard. You can’t guarantee the outcome – but at least now there will be an opportunity for residents to be heard.