“Delivering on the environment is important if people are to recognise London Thames Gateway as a quality place to live and work. Bringing restricted open space into productive public use and upgrading the existing natural assets of our area will take their rightful places in our planning considerations”.

Concillor Michael White has been Leader of Havering Council since May 2004. He was educated in Dagenham, went to college in Havering and later attended the University of North London. He has worked in information technology for the past 20 years and presently works for the Police IT Organisation, which designs and provides its IT systems.

Michael White joined the Conservative Party in 1982 and has been a member of Havering Council for ten years. In 1998 he became Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group and Deputy Leader of the Council in 2004. His responsibilities were e-government and communications but he later took on responsibility for the Council`s drive to improve its CPA score. As Leader, he has a focus on improving community leadership, and he has recently become a Board member of the Groundwork Trust.