1995 Clifton Suspension Bridge shot-blasting incident

The request was partially successful.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please could you provide me with all information held by Bristol City Council regarding the 1995 Clifton Suspension Bridge shot-blasting incident and its effects on the ecological interest of the Avon Gorge.

Information of interest would include:

* any information you have about the incident itself and the factors which led to it happening, including whether the causes were thought to be one-off or systematic causes

* any information about the predicted or known effects on the ecological interest of the Gorge

* any information about involvement by Bristol City Council in the events leading up to the incident, in investigating and resolving the incident, in preventing future recurrence, and in monitoring or compensatory work

* minutes of any meetings at which the incident and its effects were discussed, correspondence between Bristol City Council and other parties about any of the topics above, and any reports which are available in relation to the incident

Thank you

Susan Davis

Freedom of Information, Bristol City Council

Thank you for your request for Information made under the Freedom of Information Act.

Your request will now be dealt with and a response will be sent within 20 working days, starting from the next working day after your request is received.

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Chris Harper, Bristol City Council

Chris Harper 04/11/2008 12:48 >>>

F.A.O Susan Davis.

Our Nature Conservation Officer has advised that the City Council, whilst aware of the incident was not actively involved and holds no records about it. The lead organisation which dealt with the incident was Natural England who can be contacted on 0117 9598415.
This response should answer your request in full, however if you are not satisfied with this response or wish to lodge an appeal against any exemptions that may have been applied, you can do so by writing to the Data Protection Officer at Bristol City Council Legal Services, The Council House, College Green, Bristol, BS99 7PH or [Bristol City Council request email]. Details of the complaints procedure can be found at http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk/complaints.

If, after you have exhausted the council’s complaints procedure, you are still not satisfied with the response you have received you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner, details of your right to complain can be found at http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

Copyright notice
The provision of information by Bristol City Council under this scheme does not imply a right to reproduce or commercially exploit such information without the Council's express prior written permission.
Reproduction or commercial exploitation of materials supplied under this scheme without the express permission of Bristol City Council may be an infringement of copyright.
The Council is unable to grant permission to reproduce or re-use any material accessed through this scheme that is the property of third parties. Permission to reproduce or re-use such material must be obtained from the copyright holders.
Chris Harper
Central Support Manager

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Dear Chris Harper,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Bristol City Council's handling of my FOI request '1995 Clifton Suspension Bridge shot-blasting incident'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/19...

As I understand it, the City Council has a department which holds environmental information for all sites of ecological importance in the city, for use by the council and other bodies in monitoring their condition. As part of my request, I asked for information about the effects of the incident on the ecological interest of the gorge, and the subsequent recovery. Your response implies that there is no such information within this department. Given that the Avon Gorge is a site of international importance, I would have thought that holding such information would be one of the highest priority tasks for this department, and it would be very unlikely that no information relating to this incident is held. I would expect the city council to regard information held by this department as within the scope of my request.

Yours sincerely,

Susan Davis

Freedom of Information, Bristol City Council

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Davis,
Thank you for your request for a review enclosed below.

I have now investigated this further and can confirm the follwoing:

The incident regarding the shot blasting of the Suspension Bridge was dealt with by Natural England, the Government's Advisor on Nature Conservation Issues. Natural England is responsible for advising on sites of national and international conservation interest such as the Avon Gorge and therefore co-ordinated the response to this incident. Whilst Bristol City Council were aware of the incident at the time, there was no need for the Council to be directly involved. As a result of this we do not hold information directly relating to the incident, as this would be held by Natural England.

However we have now investigated further to see if we hold any mention of the incident or its effects, within our own survey information. The only reference is contained in a survey which we had carried out on the gorge, which is attached.

The City Council is actively aware of and involved in the conservation of the Avon Gorge, and in 1999 set up the Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project to help co-ordinate conservation work in the Gorge. The project is a partnership of Bristol City Council, Natural England, Bristol Zoo Gardens, Bristol University, the Downs Committee and the Society of Merchant Venturers. The project co-ordinates the nature conservation management of the gorge, including wildlife monitoring. We hold records of all the surveys we have commissioned on the Gorge. The Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre, also holds other wildlife information relating to the gorge.

If you are still not satisfied with the response you have received you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner, details of your right to complain can be found at http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

Copyright notice
The provision of information by Bristol City Council under this scheme does not imply a right to reproduce or commercially exploit such information without the Council's express prior written permission.
Reproduction or commercial exploitation of materials supplied under this scheme without the express permission of Bristol City Council may be an infringement of copyright.
The Council is unable to grant permission to reproduce or re-use any material accessed through this scheme that is the property of third parties. Permission to reproduce or re-use such material must be obtained from the copyright holders.

Yours sincerely
A Marshal

show quoted sections

Dear Chris Harper,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Bristol City
Council's handling of my FOI request '1995 Clifton Suspension
Bridge shot-blasting incident'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/19...

As I understand it, the City Council has a department which holds
environmental information for all sites of ecological importance in
the city, for use by the council and other bodies in monitoring
their condition. As part of my request, I asked for information
about the effects of the incident on the ecological interest of the
gorge, and the subsequent recovery. Your response implies that
there is no such information within this department. Given that the
Avon Gorge is a site of international importance, I would have
thought that holding such information would be one of the highest
priority tasks for this department, and it would be very unlikely
that no information relating to this incident is held. I would
expect the city council to regard information held by this
department as within the scope of my request.

Yours sincerely,

Susan Davis

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