the project had received both positive and negative responses within kent. a commentary in the "london evening standard" in october 2012 called into question the commitment of some of the development partners, namely landowner lafarge tarmac, builder brookfield construction and property company development securities. in december 2012 the project secured the services of chris townsend, as its commercial director. townsend performed the same role for the london organising committee of the olympic and paralympic games on behalf of the london 2012 summer olympics and is charged with attracting investors for debt and equity funding.