OFFICIAL
Alex Bradford
Network Rail
By email:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Freedom of Information
The Quadrant
Elder Gate
Milton Keynes
MK9 1EN
E xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx
15 July 2022
Dear Alex Bradford
Information request
Reference number: FOI2022/00613
Thank you for your email of 18 May 2022, in which you requested the following
information:
‘Please can you confirm what land you own within a 2-mile radius of [Address
provided
Please provide this information as a list alongside a map showing the boundaries of
the land you own.’
I have processed your request under the terms of the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 (EIR). 1
We have had some difficulty retrieving the information for your request. To explain a bit
further: I got in touch with our colleagues who manage the information provided by
Ordinance Survey and they explained that our systems are not created to output
geospatial maps beyond an 800m/ ½ mile radius, as this causes the outputs to be so
indistinct as to be virtually useless. The document attached shows the difficulties of
extracting a larger map.
1 The EIR, like the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), allows people to access information held by
public authorities like Network Rail. When people ask for environmental information, we need to consider
the request under the EIR rather than the FOIA. In this case, I am of the view that land information such as
property ownership
meets the definition of environmental information at Regulations 2(1)(a) and 2(1)(c) of
the EIR because it is information about land as an element of the environment.
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited Registered Office: Network Rail, One Eversholt Street, London, NW1 2DN Registered in England and Wales No. 2904587 www.networkrail.co.uk
OFFICIAL
I have tried to contact you by phone to discuss this, but have been unable to reach you. In
order to assist with your request, I have therefore taking the approach of providing
multiple documents, as follows:
•
FOI202200613 Land Ownership Plan – this is a document that provides our
freehold title in green for a ½ mile radius of the area requested
•
FOI202200613 Land Ownership Plan North
•
FOI202200613 Land Ownership Plan East
•
FOI202200613 Land Ownership Plan South
•
FOI202200613 Land Ownership Plan West • FOI202200613 2 Mile Map
The last four documents show our freehold title half a mile from the original starting point
in each of the four directions. I hope this provides what you’re looking for but if you had a
more precise location in mind, then please let us know and we would be happy to take this
as a new request.
Please provide this information as a list alongside a map showing the boundaries of
the land you own.
We don’t hold any information which addresses this question.2 We own a single, unbroken
stretch of land in the area so it is not possible to provide a list of the land we own. If it was
an area where we owned several discrete properties, I can see that we could provide a list
with title number, etc. however that’s simply not the case in this instance.
If you have any enquiries about this response, please contact me in the first instance at
xxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx. Details of your appeal rights are below.
Please remember to quote the reference number at the top of this letter in all future
communications.
Yours sincerely
Elliot Palk
Information Officer
2 Regulation 12(4)(a) of the EIRs requires that we carry out a public interest test to determine whether the
requested information should be disclosed. However, as is recognised by the Information Commissioner’s
Office, it is obviously not possible to conduct a public interest test on disclosure when the information that
has been requested is not held
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited Registered Office: Network Rail, 2nd Floor, One Eversholt Street, London, NW1 2DN Registered in England and Wales No. 2904587 www.networkrail.co.uk
OFFICIAL
You are encouraged to use and re-use the information made available in this response
freely and flexibly, with only a few conditions. These are set out in the
Open Government
Licence for public sector information. For further information please visit our
website.
Appeal rights
If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled and wish to make a
complaint or request a review of our decision, please write to the Compliance and Appeals
team at Network Rail, Freedom of Information, The Quadrant, Elder Gate, Milton Keynes,
MK9 1EN, or by email at
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx. Your request must
be submitted within 40 working days of receipt of this letter.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner
(ICO) can be contacted at Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or you can contact the ICO through the 'Make a
Complaint' section of their website on this link:
https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
The relevant section to select will be "Official or Public Information".
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited Registered Office: Network Rail, 2nd Floor, One Eversholt Street, London, NW1 2DN Registered in England and Wales No. 2904587 www.networkrail.co.uk