Contaminated sites

The request was refused by Torfaen County Borough Council.

Christopher Price

Dear Torfaen Council,

A recent FOI request asking for information on the land transfer of former Two locks nursery from TCBC to Bron Afon contained the following text:

"Bron Afon and the Council were trying to address some legacy
issues arising from the stock transfer in respect of certain sites identified latterly as
being contaminated. These discussions were concluded with Bron Afon providing
written assurance that, in respect of the sites identified, they will not claim against
the Council for possible increased costs of development unless required to carry
out works by statutory authorities."

Where are the sites of contamination and what was is contamination?

Yours faithfully,

Christopher Price

TCBC - FOI, Torfaen County Borough Council

6 Attachments

Dear Mr. Price,

 

Thank you for your email dated 30/04/2021 requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.  I have logged your email and will deal
with your request in order that we can respond to you within the statutory
deadline of 20 working days.

 

I will contact you further as soon as the relevant information is
available.

 

This correspondence is available in large print, Braille or Welsh. Please
contact us for further details or if we can help in any way.

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

Joel Morgan.

 

Joel
Joel Morgan

BUSINESS SUPPORT ASSISTANT / CYNORTHWYYDD CYMORTH BUSNES

RESOURCES DIRECTORATE / CYFARWYDDIAETH ADNODDAU

TORFAEN COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL / CYNGOR BWRDEISTREF SIROL TORFAEN

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(Telephone / Ffôn: 01495 766148

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'

show quoted sections

YMWADIAD: Mae'r wybodaeth sy'n gynwysedig yn yr e-bost yma a) yn eiddo i
Gyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen; a b) yn gyfrinachol. Fe'i bwriedir ar
gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig. Os nad chi yw’r sawl y cyfeiriwyd hi ato, ni
ddylech ddadlennu, copïo na dosbarthu'r wybodaeth neu ei defnyddio i
weithredu. Os derbyniwch yr e-bost yma fel camgymeriad, gadewch i ni wybod
ar unwaith drwy ffonio ++44 (0) 1495 766366, a danfonwch yr e-bost yn ol
gydag unrhyw atodiadau. RHYBUDD: Gwnewch yn siwr bod gennych ddiogelwch
feirws digonol cyn agor neu ddatgysylltu unrhyw ddogfen sydd yn atodiad
i'r e-bost hwn. Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg.
Cewch ateb Cymraeg i bob gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd yn arwain i
unrhyw oedi. Mae data personol sy'n cael ei brosesu gan y cyngor yn cael
ei wneud yn unol â'r gofynion sydd arnom ni o dan y Rheoliad Diogelu Data
Cyffredinol (RhDDC) (UE) 2016/679. Am fwy o wybodaeth ar sut yr ydym yn
gwneud hyn gwelwch ein Hysbysiad Preifatrwydd

References

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3. http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/
4. http://www.twitter.com/torfaencouncil/
5. Follow Torfaen Council on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/torfaencouncil/
7. Torfaen Council Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/torfaen

TCBC - FOI, Torfaen County Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Price

 

Thank you for your email dated 30/04/2021 requesting information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.  As your request is relating to
contaminated land, it is being addressed under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004. I am now in a position to respond to your
request as follows:

 

A recent FOI request asking for information on the land transfer of former
Two locks nursery from TCBC to Bron Afon contained the following text:

 

"Bron Afon and the Council were trying to address some legacy issues
arising from the stock transfer in respect of certain sites identified
latterly as being contaminated. These discussions were concluded with Bron
Afon providing written assurance that, in respect of the sites identified,
they will not claim against the Council for possible increased costs of
development unless required to carry out works by statutory authorities."

 

Where are the sites of contamination and what was is contamination?

 

I can confirm that the authority does hold information in relation to your
request however this is being withheld under the exception in Regulation
12(5)(e) confidentiality of commercial or industrial information where
such confidentiality is provided by law to protect a legitimate economic
interest.

 

To refuse environmental information under the exception in regulation
12(5)(e), public authorities will need to establish that:

 

• the information is not on emissions; 

• the information is commercial or industrial in nature; 

• it is confidential under either the common law of confidence, contract,
or a statutory bar;

• the confidentiality is protecting a legitimate economic interest;

• the confidentiality will be adversely affected by disclosure;

 

The information relates to the sale of land by the Council and the
redevelopment of the land by a registered social landlord.  All four
elements above are engaged, the disclosure of the confidential information
would have an adverse affect on the economic interest of both the Council
and the Registered Social Landlord.

 

Even if the exception is engaged, public authorities must go on to apply
the public interest test set out in regulation 12(1)(b). They can only
withhold the information if the public interest in maintaining the
exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

The Public interest in disclosing the information is that disclosure of
the information would promote transparency and accountability of the
Council.

 

The factors against are that the harm to the legitimate economic interests
of both the Council and the Registered Social Landlord.  There is also a
public interest in maintaining commercial confidences as third parties
would be discouraged from making arrangements on a confidential basis with
public authorities if they did not have some assurance that confidences
would be respected. The relationship between the Council and the RSL
serves the wider public interest, any undermining of the relationship has
the potential to jeopardise the wider public interest of co-operation
between the Council and the RSL to provide affordable housing in the
Borough.

 

In view of the above, disclosure would not be justified by a wider public
interest.

Further information regarding this exception is available on the
Information Commissioners Office website via the following link;

[1]https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

 

 

Information supplied in response to any request under the Environmental
Information Regulations be subject to copyright.  A single copy of
information supplied under the Environmental Information Regulations may
only be used for personal, non-commercial research or study, unless stated
otherwise. It must not be passed to others, copied or re-published in
whole or in part without permission from the copyright holder. Any
copyright statement that forms part of or in any way refers to the
information provided must not be altered or removed.  

 

If you have any queries about this response or are unhappy about the
service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in
writing.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.  Generally, the
Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council.  The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office (Wales), 2nd Floor, Churchill House, Churchill Way,
Cardiff, CF10 2HH. Telephone 0330 414 6421 or e-mail [2][email address].

 

This email is available in large print, braille or Welsh. Please contact
us for further details or if we can help in any way.

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

Caron Davies

Complaints/FOI Manager / Rheolwr Cwynion/Rhyddid Gwybodaeth

Resources Directorate/Cyfarwyddiaeth Adnoddau

Torfaen County Borough Council / Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen

Tel / Ffôn 01495 742164

Email / Ebost  [3][email address]

[4]Description: Description: cid:image001.gif@01CB4DE0.4A1FEB50[5] Follow
us on Twitter / [6]Find us on Facebook / [7]www.torfaen.gov.uk

 

 

 

'

show quoted sections

YMWADIAD: Mae'r wybodaeth sy'n gynwysedig yn yr e-bost yma a) yn eiddo i
Gyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen; a b) yn gyfrinachol. Fe'i bwriedir ar
gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig. Os nad chi yw’r sawl y cyfeiriwyd hi ato, ni
ddylech ddadlennu, copïo na dosbarthu'r wybodaeth neu ei defnyddio i
weithredu. Os derbyniwch yr e-bost yma fel camgymeriad, gadewch i ni wybod
ar unwaith drwy ffonio ++44 (0) 1495 766366, a danfonwch yr e-bost yn ol
gydag unrhyw atodiadau. RHYBUDD: Gwnewch yn siwr bod gennych ddiogelwch
feirws digonol cyn agor neu ddatgysylltu unrhyw ddogfen sydd yn atodiad
i'r e-bost hwn. Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg.
Cewch ateb Cymraeg i bob gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd yn arwain i
unrhyw oedi. Mae data personol sy'n cael ei brosesu gan y cyngor yn cael
ei wneud yn unol â'r gofynion sydd arnom ni o dan y Rheoliad Diogelu Data
Cyffredinol (RhDDC) (UE) 2016/679. Am fwy o wybodaeth ar sut yr ydym yn
gwneud hyn gwelwch ein Hysbysiad Preifatrwydd

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.twitter.com/torfaencouncil/
5. Follow Torfaen Council on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/torfaencouncil/
6. http://www.facebook.com/torfaen
7. http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/