COUNCILLOR Darren Johnson represents the Green Party on both Lewisham Council and the London Assembly. 

He is urging London Mayor Boris Johnson to reject the application from Bernie Ecclestone and his colleagues at Formula 1 to run a Grand Prix international motor race on a 3.2 mile track in central London past Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace and the House of Commons.

This is the wrong advice from Darren Johnson. 

He is a Lewisham elected representative and the borough would benefit much more from a Formula 1 motor race in central London than from the London 2012 Olympics. 

What Lewisham needs in order to generate satisfactory employment levels is sustainable profitable employment such as that which would come with motor racing. 

This would include motor car retailers with stocks of new state of the art racing and saloon cars along with supporting service facilities. 

Currently there are too many second hand car dealers in Lewisham.

Promoters of the Formula 1 proposal include Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button of McClaren, who have been instrumental in the recent growth of the McClaren car assembly company in Woking, one of the most successful UK companies in recent years. 

The proposed race track is much closer to Lewisham than the Olympic stadium and it is much more likely that the supporting industrial and commercial activity would be located in the borough.

Tony Bays
Chelsfield Gardens
Sydenham