Tree Preservation Order Applying to Trees at 197 Milton Road Cambridge

The request was successful.

Dear Cambridge City Council,

Please release any Tree Preservation Order applying to the trees near the road frontage of 197 Milton Road Cambridge CB4 1XG

In relation to this request I'd like the council to consider publishing its tree preservation orders online.
--

Richard Taylor
Cambridge
http://www.rtaylor.co.uk

Emma Linney, Cambridge City Council

Dear Mr Taylor

 

Thank you for your requested dated 9 February when you asked the following
information:

 

1.       Please release any Tree Preservation Order applying to the trees
near the road frontage of 197 Milton Road Cambridge CB4 1XG.

2.       In relation to this request I'd like the council to consider
publishing its tree preservation orders online.

 

Answers:

 

There is no need to request this information under the Freedom of
Information Act as tree preservation orders are already public record.
Anyone is welcome to view copies at our Mill Road Depot, please contact
the tree team on C.457200 or by email to [1][email address] to make
an appointment. If copies of TPOs are required to take away there would be
a charge of £30+VAT.

 

1.       There are three TPO’d trees in the front of 197 Milton Road.
These are two Limes close to the property’s front boundary with Milton
Road and a Yew towards the side of the house and adjacent to the footpath
leading to Kirby Close.  The TPO reference is 02/2000.  It was served on
31 March 2000 and confirmed on 29 September 2000.

2.       Although the Council is only required to make TPOs available for
viewing, we are considering making TPO information available online
through a constraints mapping system. However there is a fair amount of
work that needs to be done before such a facility can be introduced, and
we need to be sure that we can finance the project.

 

Your sincerely,

Emma Linney

 

Emma Linney

Application Support Manager

Environment Department

Cambridge City Council

P.O Box 700

Cambridge

CB1 0JH

 

T: [2]01223 457142

e: [3][email address]

 

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Dear Cambridge City Council,

Many thanks for your very prompt and helpful response to my request for any Tree Preservation Order applying to the trees near the road frontage of 197 Milton Road Cambridge CB4 1XG

Could you please clarify if you are refusing to release the requested information without me visiting the council's offices and paying a fee and if so let me know which exemption in the Freedom of Information Act you are relying on.

--

Richard Taylor
Cambridge
http://www.rtaylor.co.uk

Alistair Wilson, Cambridge City Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Taylor,

 

FOI request number 4537 - Tree Preservation Order Applying to Trees at 197
Milton Road Cambridge

 

Further to your recent correspondence and your subsequent Freedom of
Information request as follows:-

 

Information requested:

 

Please release any Tree Preservation Order applying to the trees near the
road frontage of 197 Milton Road Cambridge CB4 1XG.

 

In relation to this request I'd like the council to consider publishing
its tree preservation orders online.’

 

And in your follow up reply of the 10th February:-

 

Many thanks for your very prompt and helpful response to my request for
any Tree Preservation Order applying to the trees near the road frontage
of 197 Milton Road Cambridge CB4 1XG.

 

Could you please clarify if you are refusing to release the requested
information without me visiting the council's offices and paying a fee and
if so let me know which exemption in the Freedom of Information Act you
are relying on.

 

As the information you requested meets the definition of environmental
information it will be dealt with under the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004, as permitted under Section 39 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

 

The Regulations define "environmental information". This includes
information relating to "built structures" to the extent that these are,
or may be, affected by environmental elements; e.g. water or soil. The
definition of environmental information also includes information
concerning the state of the elements of the environment, such as air and
atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites, as well as
measures that might affect or are intended to protect those elements.

 

We have determined that the information you are seeking falls within the
definition of "environmental information" as it relates to the state of
the elements, and measures intended to protect them.

 

The City Council is obliged, as a matter of law, to take a view on which
regime applies. If information falls within the scope of the Environmental
Information Regulations, then the City Council cannot consider it under
the Freedom of Information Act.

 

In response to your request:-

 

Charging for copies of TPOs is something Cambridge City Council has always
applied, and we have now completed a review of this practice. 

 

We are legally obliged to allow the public to view TPOs but we are not
obliged to make copies. 

 

While we do not have TPO information available online it is available on
the intranet to the staff at our Customer Access Centre who are able to
provide the public with TPO reference number, tree location and species,
over the phone or via email, letter.  This we do without charge.  Where
there are a number of trees or the location is ambiguous, this information
is sent out in the form of a plan, again free of charge.

 

Copies of a full, signed TPO are generally only requested by Solicitors in
relation to conveyancing.

 

We are looking at providing TPO information online but first we need to do
a review.  Many of the TPOs are old, very big, have large areas of trees
protected rather individuals and smaller groups.  Also many of the trees
have died or been removed and this information has not been recorded.

 

As it is our intention to make TPO information available free online we
have reviewed the £30 charge and will no longer be charging for this
information, instead we aim to make this information available online.

 

There are three TPO’d trees in the front of 197 Milton Road, these are two
Limes close to the property’s front boundary with Milton Road and a Yew
towards the side of the house and adjacent to the footpath leading to
Kirby Close. 

 

The TPO reference is 02/2000.  It was served on 31st March 2000 and
confirmed on 29th September 2000.

 

A copy of the TPO is attached.

 

If you are dissatisfied with our response, you are entitled to ask for a
review. A request for a review should be addressed to

 

Mr Joel Carre,

Head of Streets and Open Space,

Mill Road,

Cambridge,

CB2 3AZ.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of an internal review, you are
entitled to pursue an appeal to the Information Commissioner.

 

The Information Commissioner’s address is:

 

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Alistair Wilson

Streets and Open Space – Development Manager

 

Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this

e-mail?

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