Letter: Why Docklands gets the lion's share

Sir: Patricia Wynn Davies's article 'Docklands given more urban aid than the regions' (26 June) is based on statistics about spending by Urban Development Corporations (UDCs) which need to be interpreted.

In London Docklands' case, most of our expenditure has been on transport projects, both road and rail, to encourage investment. East London has suffered through under-investment in recent decades and this is now being put right. In the regions, there was major investment in new road schemes in the Sixties and Seventies through Department of Transport and local authority programmes. An accurate comparative picture of infrastructure spending by region can only be derived by looking at all relevant spending programmes, not just UDCs.

London Docklands is one of the largest urban regeneration projects in the world, with more than pounds 9bn of private investment attracted to date. Since it is much bigger than the other UDCs, it is hardly surprising that infrastructure spending is also much higher. When the road and rail investment is in place our expenditure will fall significantly.

Yours faithfully,

K. E. C. SORENSEN

Chief Executive

London Docklands Development

Corporation

London, E14

26 June