29a Castlegate

The request was partially successful.

Dear Foi
I attach below a request answered 9 months ago- where I am assured contracts were about to be exchanged on this property, which was as I understand to be let go, once again, at considerable discount to the York Conservation Trust. There have been repeated discussions before that Foi and since that the Trust neither wants it nor has the funds to improve it. Hence we are stuck with a decaying asset in a prime site for years.

1. Please provide all correspondence and internal emails on this matter since April 2018.
2. Please provide the valuation certificate
3. As this is a prime site right next to the Castlegateway then how can officers and members just let it slip like this.
4. Why not put it on the open market and let us have a proper return for once in our assets. No more off market sales.

Dear Ms Swinburn,

Please see the council’s response to your request under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) received on 29 December 2018.

1. Confirm 29a Castlegate remains one of the unsold assets in your portfolio.

29a Castlegate is currently owned by the council and has not been sold.

2. The current status of transaction for 29a Castlegate

The proposed sale of the building has been reported to Executive previously, see weblink below;

https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocu...

We are assured by the purchaser that they wish to complete the transaction shortly and solicitors are currently instructed to deal with this matter on both sides.

3. The full costs to the public purse of holding the building empty.

The costs incurred by the council through holding this building empty have been £2,565.

4. The legal & rental agreement under which the keys been given to the civic trust to use for meetings and possibly other activities

This information is not held in a recorded form, however to assist with your enquiry I can advise that, the council is to sell to the York Conservation Trust and not the Civic Trust. Keys have been provided to the Conservation Trust for the purposes of inspecting and surveying the building to allow them to work up their proposals.

5. How is the insurance affected for use of these premises with or without formal agreement.

This information is not held in a recorded form, however to assist with your enquiry, the information at point 4 sets out the circumstances of the current access to the building and there is not considered to be any affect on the insurance as a result of this.

If you are dissatisfied with our response you have the right to ask for a review of how your enquiry was handled and responded to. This can be done by contacting us through [email address] stating your reason(s) why you are dissatisfied. If you remain dissatisfied after receiving the review response you
can contact the Information Commissioner, contact details below:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Or email: [email address] (please include your telephone number)

Yours sincerely,

t: 01904 554556 | e: [email address]

City of York Council | Customer Complaints & Feedback Team, Customer & Corporate Services

West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA

www.york.gov.uk | facebook.com/cityofyork | @CityofYork

Our values footer word.jpg

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This communication is from City of York Council.

The information contained within, and in any attachment(s), is confidential and legally privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication, or the information within, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Equally, you must not disclose all, or part, of its contents to any other person.

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Yours faithfully,

Gwen Swinburn

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Thank you for your email. Please note this is an automatically generated receipt to let you know we have received your email.

For information:

* The timescale for responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests is up to 20 working days. We will contact you promptly if we need you to clarify your request or an extension to complete a public interest test.

o The timescale for responding to requests for a review, for FOIA or EIR responses, is up to 20 working days. You are also able to contact the Information Commissioner, contact details below:

* The timescale for responding to your rights in relation to personal data eg: subject access to records (SAR) request, is up to 1 month. We will contact you promptly if we require further information from you, or an extension.

o The timescale for responding to requests for a review, of responses to your rights regarding personal data, is up to 1 month. You are also able to contact the Information Commissioner, contact details below:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Or email: [email address]<mailto:[email address]> (please include your telephone number in your email)

Regards
Customer Feedback Team

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foiresponses_NO-REPLY@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

3 Attachments

Dear Ms Swinburn,
 
Please see attached below the response to your enquiry under the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) received on 30^th August 2019.
 
If you are dissatisfied with our response you have the right to ask for a
review of how your enquiry was handled and responded to. This can be done
by contacting us through [1][City of York Council request email] within 40 working days of
receiving your response, stating your reason(s) why you are dissatisfied.
If you remain dissatisfied after receiving the review response you can
contact the Information Commissioner, contact details below:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a
national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Or email: [2][email address] (please include your telephone number)
 
Yours sincerely,
 
 
Contact Point
t: 01904 554556 | e: [3][email address]
 
City of York Council  |  Customer Complaints & Feedback Team, Customer &
Corporate Services
West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA
[4]www.york.gov.uk | [5]facebook.com/cityofyork | [6]@CityofYork
 
 
 
 
Please note the email address you sent your email to, is used only for
sending purposes and not monitored. This means all emails sent to this
address will not be seen by any council officers and will also be deleted.
Please resend your email to [City of York Council request email]
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Dear City of York Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of City of York Council's handling of my FOI request '29a Castlegate'.

As the valuation letter you gave me relied heavily on an earlier 2014 valuation, please to complete that part of the request can you provide that.

Further, as all the correspondence clearly cannot be commercial in confidence -which is why we assume you are doing a belt and braces refusal, using the be published exemption ( this means of course that you will publish theses materials and as we doubt you will do that will return to test that exemption). Please instead produce the dates on which the deal fell through. As the property has been empty now for coming up to 4? Years, all at taxpayers expense and blighting that area, it is reasonable for us to understand if the delay was caused by CYC or the now no longer purchasers. We will present an Foi on the full costs including legal and staff time for this saga.

[ GIVE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT HERE ]

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/2...

Yours faithfully,

Gwen Swinburn

foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

Thank you for your email. Please note this is an automatically generated receipt to let you know we have received your email.

For information:

* The timescale for responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests is up to 20 working days. We will contact you promptly if we need you to clarify your request or an extension to complete a public interest test.

o The timescale for responding to requests for a review, for FOIA or EIR responses, is up to 20 working days. You are also able to contact the Information Commissioner, contact details below:

* The timescale for responding to your rights in relation to personal data eg: subject access to records (SAR) request, is up to 1 month. We will contact you promptly if we require further information from you, or an extension.

o The timescale for responding to requests for a review, of responses to your rights regarding personal data, is up to 1 month. You are also able to contact the Information Commissioner, contact details below:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Or email: [cyfeiriad ebost]<mailto:[cyfeiriad ebost]> (please include your telephone number in your email)

Regards
Customer Feedback Team

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Help protect the environment! - please don't print this email unless you really need to.

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foi@york.gov.uk, City of York Council

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Swinburn,

 

Thank you for your request for a review of how we handled your Freedom of
Information request. Please accept our apologies for this late reply.

 

Please find attached the 2014 valuation document.

 

Unfortunately we are not able to provide you with any further advice on
this. The intention of the council is to get the best value possible for
this asset and that negotiations are ongoing therefore we accept that use
of Section 43 was appropriate.  It would significantly prejudice
commercial interests, and the public interest, if, whilst dealing with
third parties regarding this property, the council could not conduct
negotiations privately.

 

In addition to the above, we found the use of Section 22 to be appropriate
as the requested data will form the basis of a future public report.

 

Information already published relevant to this can be found here:
[1]https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieDecision...

 

Kind regards,

 

t: 01904 554145 | e: [City of York Council request email]

 

City of York Council  |  Customer Complaints & Feedback Team, Customer &
Corporate Services

West Offices | Station Rise | York YO1 6GA

www.york.gov.uk | facebook.com/cityofyork | @CityofYork

 

 

 

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