Rocklands - Formal agreement to plant holly whips on HBC owned land

The request was refused by Hastings Borough Council.

Dear Hastings Borough Council,

A recent rely to a stage 2 complaint ( COMP/19/00037 ) concerning Rocklands states that

"The discharge of condition application for the holiday let building (HS/CD/16/00655) addressed the planting of holly whips on Council owned land, as part of the landscaping scheme. The applicant was advised that they were required to contact the Council's Estates team for formal agreement to enter the land - no objection was raised"

The formal agreement to plant on HBC owned land and associated correspondence has not been posted on the HBC planning web site.

The holly whips were planted in 2014, without prior permission and were without planning permission – they were incorporated into the 2016 appeal decision as existing planting.

Please provide the following:

1. The date of each item of correspondence concerning this formal agreement.

2. The date that the planting of the holly whips were formally agreed by HBC

3. Copies of all correspondence concerning planting of holly whips on HBC owned land at Rocklands.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Hurrell

Information Officer, Hastings Borough Council

1 Attachment

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request.
 
We aim to respond to requests for information within 20 working days, in
accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. 
 
If your request is for personal information (Subject Access request) your
request will be dealt with according to the requirements of the General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the timescale for response may be
extended to 40 days.
 
You can find out more information about [1]Freedom of Information as well
as all of the services the council provides on [2]our website.
 
Information Officer
Hastings Borough Council
01424 451066
[3]www.hastings.gov.uk
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Information Officer, Hastings Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hurrell
 
I refer to your recent Freedom of Information request ref: FOIR-162897939
 
Please find attached our response.
 
 
 
Yours sincerely
 
Lisa Greathead
Information Officer
Hastings Borough Council
Muriel Matters House
Breeds Place
Hastings 
TN34 3UY
 
 

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Dear Hastings Borough Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Hastings Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Rocklands - Formal agreement to plant holly whips on HBC owned land'.

The request has been refused without specifying whether it has been considered under EIR/FOI, without any exception being given and without any consideration of the public interest test. In doing so the refusal breaches ICO guidance.
The refusal states “Please refer to letter dated 24 October 2019 from our Chief Legal Officer.
Hastings Borough Council will not re-visit subjects that have been previously answered.

The refusal refers to a letter dated 24 October 2019 from the HBC Chief Legal Officer. This letter contains a large number of unfounded allegations which are unrelated to information regulations and to this specific request.

This letter makes no specific reference to this or any other information request. It is my understanding that such a letter carries little weight and each request for information must be considered on its own merits,

The letter refers to section 12(4)(1) (a) and (b) "manifestly unreasonable requests". It appears that HBC consider this request to be "manifestly unreasonable / vexatious" . The letter states that this can be done when "a question or subject matter have previously been requested to and responded to".

This request concerns the formal agreement to plant holly whips on HBC owned referred to in an email from Mr Palmer in November 2019. I have not requested this information previously - this is the first time that I have requested the information therefore HBC have not previously answered.
The request cannot therefore be considered to be vexatious.

I request that the review covers and explains the following :

1. Please explain under what exception reason the request has been refused
2. Please explain why proper process as specified in ICO guidance has not been followed in refusing this request.
3. Please specify why it is considered I have requested this information already and when it was supplied. Copies of emails and or URL references would be useful.

4. Please respond to the request providing the information requested :

1. The date of each item of correspondence concerning this formal agreement.

2. The date that the planting of the holly whips were formally agreed by HBC

3. Copies of all correspondence concerning planting of holly whips on HBC owned land at Rocklands

I also request clarification on whether this agreement is only in respect of existing plantings of holly whips, or whether the agreement, between the two parties, includes the future plantings of the oaks that were conditioned under CD/16/00665.

My request specifically refers to information received from Assistant Director, Andrew Palmer, dated 28th November 2019, my request for information concerning this information was sent to you on 30th November 2019 therefore, it cannot possibly have been dealt with previously as it is a new information request for information not previously requested.

The letter from the Chief Legal Advisor is dated 24th October 2019 and pre-dates my request for information. This letter, which seems to have no purpose other than trying to suppress my requests for information concerning Ecclesbourne Glen and Rocklands, it is not specific to any current information requests and appears to be a blanket refusal to deal with future information requests that concern the listed topics, without considering them under ‘FOI/EIR legislation.

It appears from the Information Officer’s response that this is a blanket refusal to deal with the information request as its topic concerns Rocklands, rather than her perception that she has dealt with this request previously.

The Information Officer has not given the reference number to the previous request -she claims she has responded to; has not given the date of the previous request, or details of what her previous response to the request was.

The Information Officer’s response seems to have been given without actually checking to see whether this is a new request, or whether it is a revisit of a previous request that has been submitted following new information supplied by the Council.

Mr Palmer stated in his Stage II response to a complaint that an agreement had been made between the owners of Rocklands Caravan Park and the Council that allowed them to plant 70 holly whips on Council owned land. This is new information received, as previously members of the public have been informed that the agreement was only in respect of a planting scheme that was yet to be implemented, and concerns future plantings, and not plantings already undertaken. The ‘Discharge of Conditions’ application concerns the future planting of oak trees on Council owned land, and as far as I am aware an agreement is yet to be made between the owners of the caravan park and the Council that will allow this planting scheme to occur.

It is for this reason that I have asked for clarification on when this agreement was made, and for sight of the agreement that Mr Palmer confirms exists.

Previous to this request for information there has been no confirmation from the Council that an agreement has been made between the Council and the owners of the Caravan Park that allows additional planting on Council owned land, in fact that Council has on several occasions disputed that the trees, including the holly whips, located on the southern boundary of the caravan park are on Council owned land so therefore, perhaps you can understand my confusion and my wish for clarification.

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

Yours faithfully,

Chris Hurrell

Information Officer, Hastings Borough Council

1 Attachment

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request.
 
We aim to respond to requests for information within 20 working days, in
accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. 
 
If your request is for personal information (Subject Access request) your
request will be dealt with according to the requirements of the General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the timescale for response may be
extended to 40 days.
 
You can find out more information about [1]Freedom of Information as well
as all of the services the council provides on [2]our website.
 
PLEASE NOTE – Council offices will be closed for the festive season from
midday on Tuesday 24 December 2019 and will re-open on Thursday 2 January
2020.  Requests for information under both Freedom of Information and
Environmental Information Regulations along with responses to existing
requests will not be dealt with during this time.
 
Information Officer
Hastings Borough Council
01424 451066
[3]www.hastings.gov.uk
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Information Officer, Hastings Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hurrell
 
I refer to your email dated 1 January 2020 requesting an Internal Review
following our response to a recent Freedom of Information request ref:
FOIR-162897939
 
I have been asked, as a senior officer of the council who has not been
involved in your case to look into how we handled your request.  Please
accept my apologies for the delay in responding.
 
Hastings Borough Council received the following request on 30 November
2019
 
A recent rely to a stage 2 complaint ( COMP/19/00037   ) concerning
Rocklands states that
 
"The discharge of condition application for the holiday let building
(HS/CD/16/00655) addressed the planting of holly whips on Council owned
land, as part of the landscaping scheme. The applicant was advised that
they were required to contact the Council's Estates team for formal
agreement to enter the land - no objection was raised"
 
The formal agreement to plant on HBC owned land and associated
correspondence has not been posted on the HBC planning web site.
 
The holly whips were planted in 2014, without prior permission and were
without planning permission – they were incorporated into the 2016 appeal
decision as existing planting.
 
Please provide the following:
 
1. The date of each item of correspondence concerning this formal
agreement.
 
2. The date that the planting of the holly whips were formally agreed by
HBC
 
3. Copies of all correspondence concerning planting of holly whips on HBC
owned land at Rocklands.
 
Hastings Borough Council responded on the 24 December 2019
 
This request is being refused.
 
Please refer to letter dated 24 October 2019 from our Chief Legal Officer.
 
Hastings Borough Council will not re-visit subjects that have been
previously answered.
 
You requested an internal review on the 1 January 2020
 
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.
 
I am writing to request an internal review of Hastings Borough Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Rocklands - Formal agreement to plant holly
whips on HBC owned land'.
 
The request has been refused without specifying whether it has been
considered under EIR/FOI,  without any exception being given and without
any consideration of the public interest test. In doing so the refusal
breaches ICO guidance.
The refusal states “Please refer to letter dated 24 October 2019 from our
Chief Legal Officer.
Hastings Borough Council will  not re-visit subjects that have been
previously answered.
 
The refusal refers to a letter dated 24 October 2019 from the HBC Chief
Legal Officer. This letter contains a large number of unfounded
allegations which are unrelated to information regulations and to this
specific request. 
 
This letter makes no specific reference to this or any other information
request.  It is my understanding that such a letter carries little weight
and each request for information must be considered on its own merits,
 
The letter refers to section 12(4)(1) (a) and (b) "manifestly unreasonable
requests".  It appears that HBC consider this request to be "manifestly
unreasonable / vexatious" . The letter states that this can be done when
"a question or subject matter have previously been requested to and
responded to".
 
This request concerns the formal agreement to plant holly whips on HBC
owned referred to in an email from Mr Palmer in November 2019. I have not
requested this information previously - this is the first time that I have
requested the information therefore HBC have not previously answered.
The request cannot therefore be considered to be vexatious.
 
I request that the review covers and explains  the following :
 
1. Please explain under what exception reason the request has been refused
2. Please explain why proper process as specified in ICO guidance has not
been followed in refusing this request.
3. Please specify why it is  considered I have requested this information
already and when it was supplied. Copies of emails and or URL references
would be useful.
 
4. Please respond to the request providing the information requested :
 
1. The date of each item of  correspondence concerning this formal
agreement.
 
2. The date that the planting of the holly whips were formally agreed by
HBC
 
3. Copies of all  correspondence concerning planting of holly whips on HBC
owned land at Rocklands
 
I also request clarification on whether this agreement is only in respect
of existing plantings of holly whips, or whether the agreement, between
the two parties, includes the future plantings of the oaks that were
conditioned under CD/16/00665.

My request specifically refers to information received from Assistant
Director, Andrew Palmer, dated 28th November 2019, my request for
information concerning this information was sent to you on 30th November
2019  therefore, it cannot possibly have been dealt with previously as it
is a new information request for information not previously requested. 
 
The letter from the Chief Legal Advisor is dated  24th October 2019 and
pre-dates my request for information.  This letter, which seems to have no
purpose other than trying to suppress my requests for information
concerning Ecclesbourne Glen and Rocklands, it is not specific to any
current information requests and appears to be a blanket refusal to deal
with future information requests that concern the listed topics, without
considering them under ‘FOI/EIR legislation. 
 
It appears from the Information Officer’s response that this is a blanket
refusal to deal with the information request as its topic concerns
Rocklands, rather than her perception that she has dealt with this request
previously.
 
The Information Officer has not given the reference number to the previous
request -she claims she has responded to; has not given the date of the
previous request, or details of what her previous response to the request
was.
 
The Information Officer’s response seems to have been given without
actually checking to see whether this is a new request, or whether it is a
revisit of a previous request that has been submitted following new
information supplied by the Council.
 
Mr Palmer stated in his Stage II response to a complaint that an agreement
had been made between the owners of Rocklands Caravan Park and the Council
that allowed them to plant 70 holly whips on Council owned land.  This is
new information received, as previously members of the public have been
informed that the agreement was only in respect of a planting scheme that
was yet to be implemented, and concerns future plantings, and not
plantings already undertaken.   The ‘Discharge of Conditions’ application
concerns the future planting of oak trees on Council owned land, and as
far as I am aware an agreement is yet to be made between the owners of the
caravan park and the Council that will allow this planting scheme to
occur. 
 
It is for this reason that I have asked for clarification on when this
agreement was made, and for sight of the agreement that Mr Palmer confirms
exists.
 
Previous to this request for information there has been no confirmation
from the Council that an agreement has been made between the Council and
the owners of the Caravan Park that allows additional planting on Council
owned land, in fact that Council has on several occasions disputed that
the trees, including the holly whips, located on the southern boundary of
the caravan park are on Council owned land so therefore, perhaps you can
understand my confusion and my wish for clarification.
 
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[1]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
 
Review
 
Hastings Borough Council has on numerous occasions corresponded with you
in relation to the planting of holly whips this also includes
correspondence with Councillors.
 
You state that the letter dated 24 October 2019 carries little weight, we
disagree, you have over a number of years attempted to re-open requests
and complaints in relation to Rocklands Caravan Park and Ecclesbourne
Glen.  The letter dated 24 October 2019 informs you that we will not
communicate with you any further on subjects that have been answered.
 
On this occasion this specific information has not been requested
therefore I can advise as follows:
 
Q1 – Information not held
 
Q2 – Information not held
 
Q3 – Please see attached  correspondence as requested and further below
refusal notice for other correspondence.  Please note that names and email
addresses have been redacted.
 
 
NOTICE OF REFUSAL
 
Under Environmental Information Regulations the information requested
above exempt under Section 12(5)(e) ‘Confidentiality of commercial or
industrial information where such confidentiality is provided by law to
protect a legitimate economic interest’
 
We have considered the following:
 

* Is the information commercial or industrial
* Is the information subject to confidentiality provided by law
* Is the confidentiality protecting a legitimate economic interest
* Would disclosure adversely affect the confidentiality

 
 We believe that the disclosure of this commercial information is more
likely to have an adverse effect on the economic interest of the owners of
Rocklands Caravan Park.
 
Section 12(5)(e) is subject to a public interest test.  This means that a
public authority can refuse to disclose information under these exceptions
if in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining
the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
 
 
Factors for disclosure:
 

* Transparency and accountability

  
Factors against disclosure:
 

* Maintaining commercial confidences
* In all circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining
the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure
* Maintaining commercial confidences
* The requested information is clearly marked ‘private and confidential’

 
I can also add that we cannot definitively prove the land in question
belongs to Hastings Borough Council (HBC) as Ordnance Survey (OS) plans
have a tolerance, the lines on the OS base mapping have not been
re-surveyed for several years, the GIS is a best digitisation of HBCs
title plans (which were prepared on paper) and Land Registry plans are
prepared to general boundaries and not determined boundaries.
 
It is the Council’s view the cost of pursuing this to a conclusion is out
of proportion to the value of the land and so is not a priority.
 
Hastings Borough Council will no longer communicate with you in relation
to holly whips at Ecclesbourne Glen.
 
If you remain dissatisfied then you may complain to the Information
Commissioners Office (ICO) who will decide whether the Council has handled
your request correctly.
 
Information Commissioners Office
Wycliffe House
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
 
Tel: 08456 30 60 60
[2]www.ico.gov.uk
 
Yours sincerely
 
Mark Horan
Continuous Improvement and Democratic Services Manager
 
 
 
 
 

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