Sir Sadiq Khan has defended offering a £200,000 salary to lure an “exceptional person” to drive forward his vision of a pedestrianised Oxford Street.The bumper remuneration package is almost £40,000 more than the mayor earns himself – and almost three times what a Tube driver takes home.City Hall has advertised for a chief executive of the Oxford Street Development Corporation, a mayoral quango that expects to be granted planning and money-raising powers on January 1 next year to lead the transformation of the UK’s most famous high street.The mayor is also seeking a chairman of the development corporation – on a salary of £30,000. A total of 50 staff are expected to be hired – 10 are already in place – with a £150m budget earmarked for the initial changes to the street.
