"One cannot ignore a gentleman with a £500 million cheque" is the message from Bromley Council leader Stephen Carr over plans for the Crystal Palace Park.

Appearing on the BBC's Sunday Politics show last night, Sunday November 23, Coun Carr was forced to answer some tricky questions regarding Chinese developers the ZhongRong Group.

Appearing alongside Mark Field, MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, and Steve Reed, MP for Croydon North, Coun Carr was quizzed after a segment highlighting some of the perceived failings of the proposals.

Andrew Cryan of the BBC highlighted that "serious questions are being asked", with claims that the process was done "behind closed doors".

First signing the exclusivity deal with the ZhongRong Group last October, which runs out in February, what is being proposed cannot legally be built without changing the law.

However, with no detailed planning application in place Tim Donovan, host of the show, asked if the ZhongRong group had gone cold now they realised they could not "just have the park and do what they want with it."

Coun Carr responded that he thought ZhongRong was still passionate about the park, but said there were: "Cultural differences, the Chinese weren't able to see what we could deliver legally here.

"We couldn't just hand over the park until we'd seen a proper business case."

Coun Carr stopped short of saying he was 'optimistic' to work with them, but plumped for 'keen' instead.

He added: "When a gentleman comes forward with a £500 million cheque, and a £100 million to benefit the open realm of the park, one can't just ignore it. They were the only game in town and rightly or wrongly they have that exclusivity agreement now.

"We're not giving away public land, the park land, we've said no to them, that's why we haven't progressed up to date. But if they're prepared to play by the rules and the legalities as we see them then we can negotiate."

Mr Reed inferred there had been shady dealings in the run up to the proposals, claiming: "I think private details in hotels in Beijing which seems to be where this particular proposal came from."

Coun Carr rebuked claims deals had "been done elsewhere."

Beckenham resident and former Bromley councillor Rod Reed, 56, who represented different constituencies for 12 years, said: "There are huge questions surrounding the way the whole process has been undertaken, including possible trips to China.

"In local government it's highly unusual to give an exclusivity contract from my perspective."

A separate Masterplan is also in place, sparking fears ZhongRong's vision could clash with the existing plan - wasting millions of taxpayers money.