Seb Coe on the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

So, would you want to be in Sebastian Coe's shoes? As chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), he will be ringmaster to the Greatest Show on Earth. Succeed, and he will rightly be rewarded with plaudits. But it’s undeniable he also has one of the trickiest briefs in town. It’s not just the Games themselves but their legacy that preoccupies a lot of Londoners.

We asked you to submit your questions for Lord Coe through Time Out's Twitter and Facebook pages. After one false start (when the LOCOG press officer advised us he wouldn't touch on legacy issues) and a week of negotiations, Lord Coe tackles the issues that matter to you most...

Some of our readers say they feel cheated by the ticketing process. Was the number of cheaper seats reduced after applications closed?

'Absolutely not. The system was clear. We gave a six-week period for people to apply because we didn’t want the system crashing with a first-come, first-served rush. Given the high demand, the fairest way was to use a ballot.’

Why wasn’t the number of seats for each event made known?

'We didn’t have a complete configuration of the stadium and didn’t know the media requirements.'

Surely that was taken into account when this was organised?

'Of the 26 sports, six of them are on the Olympic Park, the other 20 venues are being built or overlaid at this moment. It’s not quite the exact science you expect it to be. We haven’t even built the hockey venue.'

What do you say to concerns about the legacy of the Velopark [The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) is planning to change the cycling road track to accommodate a private housing development]?

‘What we are leaving behind is the Velodrome, the BMX track, road racing and a mountain-bike facility. All need to be taken into consideration alongside the housing legacy. But you need to speak to the OPLC.'

One of the Games’ free events is the cycling race at Box Hill in Surrey. But the area has now been declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest for rare wildlife, and spectator numbers have been limited – will the race be re-routed?

'No. But the circuit will follow an extraordinary arc.'

Did you know about the wildlife when you planned the race?

'It was part of the feasibility survey, but these things develop as you go along.'

At Greenwich Park, archaeologists, environmentalists and community groups are concerned about the impact of the equestrian events there. Even Nick Skelton, a British rider, said on testing the course it felt ‘dead’. Is the location still feasible?

'Nick Skelton wants it to be a bit firmer. That’s absolutely fine. The test was a chance for riders to tell us how the course should develop. On the broader points, we worked closely with Greenwich Council, the Royal Parks and local groups. We have planning consent and have met their concerns.'

Some people have asked why the money (estimated at £42 million) isn’t being used to build a lasting, state-of-the-art equestrian facility.

'It was an opportunity to put the sport back into the Games, for the equestrian events to be at the heart of the city.'

On the environment: the Olympic site’s target of 20 per cent renewable energy has been dropped to nine per cent. The wind-turbine project has been slashed; the carbon-neutral torch has vanished. Exactly how green are the Games going to be?

'We have done things that no other Games have done before: in the way we’ve constructed the venues, our waste-management policy and our zero-waste target during the Games. People looked at the wind-turbine project and thought it wouldn’t work. It wasn’t “eco bling” for the sake of it.'

We were also promised 70,000 jobs. So far 12,635 have been created...

'It wasn’t LOCOG that promised that. It was the London Development Agency. We have met many of the targets. In total we will have created 100,000 jobs, which will be met by local people. We planned for 15 to 20 per cent of the workforce to come from local boroughs and we have achieved 19.4 per cent. Seven to 12 per cent of that workforce will have been previously unemployed.'

So why has Robin Wales, the Mayor of Newham, said the legacy looks like it’s becoming a ‘vanity project’?

'The legacy is the responsibility of the OPLC. I don’t believe you would have seen that transformation of the area in the scope, the speed, the depth, that we have seen had we come back empty-handed from Singapore. The creation of 3,500 homes, world-class venues… I’m very proud that sport has created that momentum.'

What would you say to Londoners who think, ‘I didn’t get tickets, I’m paying for it through my council tax: what’s in it for me?’

'Londoners, unlike other parts of the country, will end up with a regenerated part of their city, world-class sports venues and many cultural festivals.’

What will be the unmissable events over the next year?

'The big moment will be when the torch relay sets off and travels through the country to get to London.'

Will there be a time in the next year when you’ll think, ‘Okay, I can relax’?

'I don’t think anybody will relax until the Paralympic torch leaves London and is on its way to Rio!'