Top gong bestowed on former Lend Lease boss David Higgins THE former chief executive of property and infrastructure company Lend Lease, David Higgins, has received a knighthood in the Queen's birthday honours list. Mr Higgins was at the helm of Lend Lease at the time the company constructed the athletics village for the Sydney 2000 Olympics. He left Lend Lease in 2003 and moved to Britain, where he was in charge of construction for the London 2012 Olympics, which had a $12.51 billion budget. London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe paid tribute to Mr Higgins's contribution during his time as chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority. "David Higgins played a central role in the extraordinary progress we have made in the delivery of the Olympic Park, both the regeneration and the world-class sports venues," Mr Coe said. The athletes and the country have a fabulous platform for a great Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 and the East End of London has been left with a transformation that only comes around once in a generation. This is thoroughly deserved. Mr Higgins, who declined to comment on his knighthood when contacted by the Press Association, joined Britain's Network Rail earlier this year. Lend Lease Group chief executive and managing director Steve McCann said the group was delighted for David and congratulated him on this outstanding achievement. "David made a significant contribution to Lend Lease and the Australian property industry and some of the world's greatest developments were undertaken during the period of his leadership, including Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent and Darling Park here in Sydney," Mr McCann said yesterday. With Agencies