Motorhome parking on Exmouth seafront.
Dear East Devon District Council,
How many complaints have been received by the council regarding motorhome/campervan parking on Exmouth seafront?
Yours faithfully,
Dave Toomey
Thank you for submitting a request for information. We will respond to your request as quickly as possible, within the 20 working day statutory deadline under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
For updates on this case, please quote your unique reference number 101000798983 .
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East Devon District Council
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Dear East Devon District Council,
Further to my request I would also request under the Freedom of Information Act the details of the alleged complaints, whether they were from EDDC residents or visitors and any incidents of discharging sewage (when and where).
Yours faithfully,
Dave Toomey
Thank you for submitting a request for information. We will respond to your request as quickly as possible, within the 20 working day statutory deadline under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
For updates on this case, please quote your unique reference number 101000799215 .
---------------------------------------
Customer Service Centre
East Devon District Council
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Dear Mr Toomey,
Thank you for your request for information. Please find the response to your query below.
How many complaints have been received by the council regarding motorhome/campervan parking on Exmouth seafront? Further to my request I would also like the details of the alleged complaints, whether they were from EDDC residents or visitors - Any complaints regarding on street parking would be the responsibility of Devon County Council (DCC). If we received any such complaints they would have been redirected to DCC. We do not keep a record of any contacts/complaints referred to them. You will need to refer this matter to DCC via their website https://new.devon.gov.uk/ or https://new.devon.gov.uk/accesstoinforma...
I hope this information is helpful but, if you feel dissatisfied with the way we have responded to your request, please contact our Monitoring Officer, Mr Henry Gordon Lennox, to request an internal review [email address]
You may also approach the Information Commissioner for advice at www.ico.org.uk
Yours sincerely,
Sara
Ms S Harvey
Information and Complaints Officer
East Devon District Council
01395 571659
www.eastdevon.gov.uk
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Dear East Devon District Council,
I find this answer completely at odds with what has been widely reported & quoted in the local press: "East Devon District Council’s cabinet last week voted in favour of a scheme that had been called after years of complaints from residents to ban the camper vans from the seafront and instead allow them to park in council’s owned car parks": https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-new...
Is the statement "after years of complaints from residents" miss-reported or untrue? I cannot believe that EDDC would enter into any such scheme unless there was clear evidence of the complaints.
Yours faithfully,
Dave Toomey
Dear Mr Toomey,
Further to my email dated 12th February, we have reopened this FOI case and are in the process of compiling a further response. You will receive this response within the original FOI timeframe.
Kind regards
Sara
Ms S Harvey
Information and Complaints Officer
East Devon District Council
01395 571659
www.eastdevon.gov.uk
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Gadawodd Dave Toomey anodiad ()
Many thanks for the advice Tim. Not sure why the FOI request was re-opened await their reply.
Dear East Devon District Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of East Devon District Council's handling of my FOI request 'Motorhome parking on Exmouth seafront.'.
The reply date for this FOI request was 9th March 2018 & no reply received.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/m...
Yours faithfully,
Dave Toomey
Dear Mr Toomey,
Thank you for your FOI request. From receipt of an FOI request we have a full 20 working days to respond. As Saturday and Sunday are not classed as a working days any FOI requests that arrive over the weekend will be logged on the Monday and the clock starts from Monday with the first full day being Tuesday. We received your first email on Sunday 11th February 2018 and your second email regarding the same request on the 12th February. The response to your original request therefore is due today. Please see the response below.
How many complaints have been received by the council regarding motorhome/campervan parking on Exmouth seafront - We are aware of a history of enquiries from local Councillors and subsequent media activity. The issue tends to be about campervans and motorhomes parking overnight on the highway so I imagine that complaints could well have been directed to Devon County Council as the Highway Authority. Last year East Devon District Council was asked to work with Exmouth Town Council and Devon County Council to resolve a number of local issues and if we are to categorise these requests as “ complaints” then I would cite two, one from Cllr Mark Williamson and another from Cllr Bill Nash
Further to my request I would also request under the Freedom of Information Act the details of the alleged complaints, whether they were from EDDC residents or visitors and any incidents of discharging sewage (when and where) - I can confirm that this Council took enforcement action in response to a complaint about foul waste being discharged onto the beach. Our Environmental Health database records three other complaints regarding problems caused by campervans in Exmouth.
I hope this information is helpful but, if you feel dissatisfied with the way we have responded to your request, please contact our Monitoring Officer, Mr Henry Gordon Lennox, to request an internal review [email address]
You may also approach the Information Commissioner for advice at www.ico.org.uk
Yours sincerely,
Sara
Ms S Harvey
Information and Complaints Officer
East Devon District Council
01395 571659
www.eastdevon.gov.uk
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Dear FOI EDDC,
So to clarify you have in fact received no complaints from members of the public only local issues which you have categorized as "complaints" by two local Councillors. Were these available on 13th February when I was informed that no complaints were recorded? Can I have details of these two complaints please?
In your reply you state "I can confirm that this Council took enforcement action in response to a complaint about foul waste being discharged onto the beach. Our Environmental Health database records three other complaints regarding problems caused by campervans in Exmouth". Can I have the details of these recorded incidents as per my original request please?
Yours sincerely,
Dave Toomey
Dear Mr Toomey,
Thank you for your email. Please see the attached document with further
details of the complaints we have received in response to your FOI query.
Yours sincerely,
Sara
Ms S Harvey
Information and Complaints Officer
East Devon District Council
01395 571659
[1]www.eastdevon.gov.uk
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Dear FOI EDDC,
Can you please clarify. My question on 13th February was:
Is the statement "after years of complaints from residents" miss-reported or untrue? I cannot believe that EDDC would enter into any such scheme unless there was clear evidence of the complaints.
You statement that the letter from a Councillor dated 01/06/17 states "huge numbers of campervans parking along the seafront".
You sent me all your registered complaints which as far as I can see consists of a total of 5 complaints. 1 complaint about a noisy generator & 4 complaints regarding discharge of grey water onto the road.
When there are only 5 complaints in total against a "huge number of campervans parking along the seafront year on year" where is the justification for this proposed ban?
Yours sincerely,
Dave Toomey
Dear Mr Toomey,
Thank you for your email. We have provided all the information requested
under FOI and the legislation does not require us to provide detailed
explanation or justification. If however you believe that we have not
provided all the information we hold then you can request an internal
review but in doing so you would need to demonstrate a personal injustice
you have been caused as a result of the council's errors or failing to
follow correct procedure, not simply a disagreement with our decision.
Alternatively, you can contact the Parking team direct if you want to ask
any questions about the ban or make a formal complaint.
Phone:
01395 571780
Email:
[1][email address]
Post:
Parking Services
East Devon District Council
Knowle
Sidmouth
EX10 8HL
Yours sincerely,
Sara
Ms S Harvey
Information and Complaints Officer
East Devon District Council
01395 571659
[2]www.eastdevon.gov.uk
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Gadawodd tim todd anodiad ()
Dave,
You might like to consider the following as ways of getting hold of further information- but seldom an easy task with EDDC. Expect obstruction, obfuscation and delay. Their use of language may , on occasions, can be open to numerous interpretations, consider all.
1. Somebody got the item put on the council agenda, ask for that persons's identity and full details of how and when they raised it and if prrovided, pursue that route.
2. Look at the council minutes for the appropriate meeting, they can be accessed on the council website- also look out for the audio (if it worked) but don't leave that too long as they delete them after a while.
3. It may have been an officer, in which case good luck in trying to get any evidence out of them, requests are frequently met with it was personal opinion' and words to the effect that thery hold no information.
4. Consider asking a question, in person at a meeting or in writing, of the council leader.
Best of luck with it.
Tim
PS. My guess is that some bright spark from EDDC has read the journal and seen the letters and fuss as an opportunity to increase parking revenue!