Road verges - ecological protection scheme

Dear Ms Davis,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST CONCERNING Road Verges - Ecological Protection Scheme.

Thank you for contacting Worcestershire County Council.

I acknowledge your request for information received on 09/03/09.

Your request is being considered and we will contact you within the 20 working day timescale as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Act defines a number of exemptions, which may prevent release of the information you have asked for. If this is the case we will write to you and also inform you of your rights of appeal.

In some circumstances Worcestershire County Council (WCC) may make a charge for this information. This will be considered and we will tell you if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid before the information is processed and released. The 20 working day time limit for responses will be suspended until receipt of the payment and payment must be made within three months.

In some circumstances WCC may need to consult with third parties (people not employed by WCC) about the release of information relating to them or their organisation. Please let me know if you do not wish your name to be released to any third parties we may need to contact in order to fulfil this request.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact me on 01905 822070.

Yours sincerely

Tracy Clarke
Administration Officer
Integrated Transportation
Worcestershire County Council
Pavilion E1 - County Hall
Spetchley Road
Worcester
WR5 2NP

DDI - 01905 822070

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Dear Ms Davis

Environmental Information Regulations 2004 - INFORMATION REQUEST
CONCERNING Road Verges - Ecological Protection Scheme.

Thank you for contacting Worcestershire County Council (WCC). Your
request for information is being answered under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 as the information you have asked for falls
under 2(a) of the regulations,

" "environmental information" has the same meaning as in Article 2(1) of
the Directive, namely any information in written, visual, aural,
electronic or any other material form on -

(a) the state of the elements of the environment, such as air and
atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites including
wetlands, coastal and marine areas, biological diversity and its
components, including genetically modified organisms, and the interaction
among these elements;"

Your request for information has now been considered and some of the
information you have asked for is below.

In response to question a) what protection measures a verge receives when
it is included in the scheme.

Road Verge Nature Reserve Scheme

We have a Road Verge Nature Reserve scheme in Worcestershire.

The Road Verge Nature Reserve management is funded by Worcestershire
County Council Highways and currently undertaken by the Worcestershire
Wildlife Consultancy, with oversight from Worcestershire County Council
Ecology Highways. We meet with representatives from Worcestershire
Wildlife Consultancy and The Worcestershire Wildlife Trust periodically to
discuss issues and alterations to the scheme.

Currently there are 51 Road Verge Nature Reserve Schemes. There is an
additional road verge that will be designated shortly:

Protection measures for Road Verge Nature Reserve Schemes:

o Road Verge Nature Reserve Schemes are identified on the Geographical
Information System (GIS); enabling them to be identified by
Worcestershire County Council Highways officers.
o Concrete marker posts are installed at each end of each Road Verge
Nature Reserve Schemes.
o Laminated location maps are provided to grass cutting contractors.
o Vegetation management and annual condition survey/reporting is
undertaken by Worcestershire Wildlife Consultancy.

Other notable road verges

Additional to the Road Verge Nature Reserve Schemes scheme we have a GIS
theme on which we are identifying other notable road verges as we become
aware of them. Currently there are not many verges on this database, but
we will be undertaking an analysis of botanical records shortly, which we
hope will identify additional notable verges. We will also be requesting
the Biodiversity Partnership representatives and Worcestershire's
recording community to notify us of any notable verges that they are, or
become aware of.

General verge management

Discussions have taken place with the aim of investigating opportunities
to improve the management of semi-natural habitats on the wider verge
network - the road verge network being likely to comprise the largest area
of semi-natural habitat in single ownership in Worcestershire. We are
currently researching examples of best practice from elsewhere in the UK,
with the aim of identifying changes to the road verge management
programme.

In response to question b) the list of verges covered by the scheme (and
their locations - road name/number and six figure OS grid references)

and c) for each verge, the specific reasons why the verge has been
included in the scheme - i.e. the notable species found there, or the NVC
community present,

the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure because a
legal exemption prohibits Worcestershire County Council from releasing
that information.

The legal exemption (s) that applies is: 12(5)g - " For the purposes of
paragraph (1)(a), a public authority may refuse to disclose information to
the extent that its disclosure would adversely affect - the protection of
the environment to which the information relates."

It has been decided that the public interest in withholding the
information outweighs the public interest in disclosure in this case as
many of these species are sensitive and we cannot be sure that the
information would not be used by any parties for inappropriate activities.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact Jane Harrison on
01905 768288.

If you have a complaint about the handling of this enquiry then in the
first instance please contact:

Consumer Relations Department

Worcestershire County Council

County Hall

Spetchley Road

Worcester

WR5 2NP

01905 766364

You can then also contact the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 54 57 45
[1]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Lucy Capel
Management Support and Information Officer
Environmental Services
Worcestershire County Council

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/

I am out of the office until Monday 6th April. If you have any urgent issues please contact John Evans on 01905 766220 or [email address]

If your email involves a request for information under legislation governing Freedom of Information, Environmental Information or Data Protection, please contact Kevin Stilgoe by e-mail at [email address] who will be able to assist.

This message has not been auto forwarded."

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Dear Susan

Thankyou for your email. I have asked the Countryside Officer who collated the information requested to respond to your questions. She is currently on annual leave but I hope to have a response for you in the next two weeks.

In relation to your question about the use of the word "prohibits", there are set templates we must use to answer both Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulation requests. The wording " the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure because a legal exemption prohibits Worcestershire County Council from releasing that information" is part of the set template for withholding information. I will pass your comments on to the Information Access Officer to find out if the template can be amended.

Kind regards

Lucy Capel

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Dear Susan

I now have the response to the remaining questions.

Though it could be of interest to the public which verges are covered by the scheme and the reason, this would also draw attention to these verges. There is a real concern about interference with intent to destroy the habitat as this has happened in Worcestershire in the past. Plant theft is also a serious concern which would be counter to the reasons for designating the verges in the first instance. We believe it is more in the public interest to withhold the information and allow the verges to continue as they are then release the information and risk the verges being destroyed.
The decision has been taken across all verges and not a site by site basis.

I do hope this answers your questions.

Kind regards

Lucy Capel

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Dear Susan

After consideration the Countryside Officers have agreed to provide the Roadside Verge Nature Reserves document but have redacted locations under exemption 12(5)g for reasons previously mentioned.

Please can I draw your attention to the copyright statement and the Reuse of Public Sector Information section below.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact me.

If you have a complaint about the handling of this enquiry then in the first instance please contact:
Consumer Relations Department
Worcestershire County Council
County Hall
Spetchley Road
Worcester
WR5 2NP
01905 766364

You can then also contact the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 54 57 45
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Lucy Capel

Worcestershire County Council

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Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005

[For use with cover letters where material is disclosed pursuant to FOIA and or EIR]

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The copyright owner of the information contained within the documents supplied to you in this case is Worcestershire County Council [and][or] a third party.

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You can make a formal application for re-use by writing to the Information Access Officer, Worcestershire County Council, County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester, WR5 2NP. Full guidance on how to make an application to re-use our information can be found in our Re-Use Policy at: http://worcestershire.whub.org.uk/home/w...

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For documents where the copyright is owned by an organisation or person other than Worcestershire County Council, you will need to apply direct to the copyright owner to re-use them. Where possible we can help you identify the copyright owner[s] and their contact details.

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Dear Susan,

Thankyou for contacting Worcestershire County Council.

The information we have provided is all that we hold in relation to your request.

Yours sincerely

Lucy Capel

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