Dear Ligand,

Please find attached acknowledgement of your FOI request.

Regards

Danielle Fitzpatrick

Information Management Team

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Dear Mr Fields,

Please find attached the response to your FOI request.

Regards

Danielle Fitzpatrick

Information Management Team

Disclaimer

The information contained in this communication from the sender is
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may be unlawful.

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Hi Mr Fields,

I can confirm that I have queried this with the relevant department and
will be in touch in due course.

Regards

Danielle Fitzpatrick

Information Management Team

From: Ligand Fields <[FOI #1128498 email]>
Sent: Saturday, June 8, 2024 4:28 PM
To: foi <[Derry City and Strabane District Council request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Access to
open country within the Derry City and Strabane district

Dear Derry City & Strabane District Council,
(please could you ensure this reply reaches Mr John Kelpie, Chief
Executive)
Thank you very much for the Council's response (ref: FOI / 5091) to my
freedom of information request regarding access to 'open country' in your
district.

However I would like to exercise my option for you to undertake a review
of your response, as I'm afraid you seem to have misunderstood my request:
I was asking specifically about access to 'open country' (as per *Part III
*of the Access to the Countryside NI Order 1983), whereas you have
supplied details of 'public rights of way' (linear public paths) within
your district (as per *Part II* of the above Order).

The documentation of the 11 public rights of way within your district is
nonetheless very welcome and it is great to have this material available
in the public domain, so thank you for that, I do appreciate the time and
trouble taken.

However could you please provide an answer on the original request,
regarding access to open country? (For the avoidance of doubt: this is as
per the provision of Part III of the Order here
[1]https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1983...). Part III of the Order
involves public access to designated areas consisting "wholly or
predominantly of mountain, moor, heath, hill, woodland, cliff, foreshore,
marsh, bog or waterway" rather than linear paths.
Is there any such access within your district?

Many thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Ligand Fields

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Fields,

Our Natural Environment Manager has confirmed that Council hold no records
of lands having being designated under Part III of the Access to the
Countryside Order.

Regards

Danielle Fitzpatrick

Information Management Team

From: Ligand Fields <[FOI #1128498 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2024 11:59 AM
To: foi <[Derry City and Strabane District Council request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Access to
open country within the Derry City and Strabane district

Dear Derry City & Strabane District Council,
thank you agreeing to conduct an internal review of your response to this
request (ref FOI 5091)

I have located some information will likely be helpful for your review:

The NI Assembly 'AIMS' Portal records a written answer provided by the
then Environment Minister in Oct 2011 (ref AQW 2760/11-15). This was in
answer to the question "How many access agreements have been entered into
by each District Council pursuant to Article 28 of the Accesst o the
Countryside (NI) Order 1983; and what is the total area of access land
created as a result."

In the Minister's reply, he noted that Derry City Council reported they
had made one Access Agreement under Article 28, for an area of 2.1
hectares. (The reply does not given any further detail as to which site
this was on).

Hopefully your current records can locate this 2.1 hectare site.

Yours sincerely,

Ligand Fields

show quoted sections

Mr Fields

Thank you for your correspondence below. As the information being
requested is connected to, but not the same as, your previous request, I
think that the best approach would be to treat it is a new Freedom of
Information request. We will still provide a full response to your
queries.

Are you happy enough to proceed in this way?

Thanks

Damian McCay

Information and Customer Services Officer

From: Ligand Fields <[FOI #1128498 email]>
Sent: Friday, June 21, 2024 4:34 PM
To: foi <[Derry City and Strabane District Council request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Access to
open country within the Derry City and Strabane district

Dear Derry City & Strabane District Council,
thank you for your further reply to my FOI request (ref FOI 5091)
following your internal review.

I'm afraid I cannot consider your reply satisfactory.
This is because:
- it directly contradicts your Council's reply to the NI Assembly's then
Minister for the Environment in the latter half of 2011 (ref AQW
2760/11-15 - see
[1]https://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/questions...
), but yet you offer no explanation for the discrepancy.

In order to avoid the unnecessary time and expense of involving the
Information Commissioner, I would like to give the Council the opportunity
to clarify its response.

Firstly I think would be helpful if you could confirm whether the Council
still retains a record of its response to the Minister's question ref AQW
2760/11-15, and if so provide a copy of that response? Or is record of
that response no longer held? (If not, it may still be held by DAERA, and
I would be happy to submit an FOI to them in that regard).

Secondly it would be helpful if you could offer some explanation why your
response to my FOI 5091 contradicts your response the Minister ref AQW
2760/11-15.
It seems to me that possibilities could include:
(a) you have decided that your response to the Minister in 2011 was
incorrect.
(b) your response to the Minister in 2011 was correct, but your Council
has since lost the records of the Access Agreement referred to.
(c) the Access Agreement your Council referred to in 2011 was time limited
with the land-owner(s) in question, and was not renewed when it expired.

Sorry to press the point but I feel I have explained my reasoning for
doing so.

Respectfully,
Ligand Fields

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Fields,

Please find attached acknowledgement of your FOI request.

Regards

Danielle Fitzpatrick

Information Management Team

Disclaimer

The information contained in this communication from the sender is
confidential. It is intended solely for use by the recipient and others
authorized to receive it. If you are not the recipient, you are hereby
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may be unlawful.

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Dear Mr Fields,

Please find attached the response to your FOI request.

Regards

Danielle Fitzpatrick

Information Management Team

Disclaimer

The information contained in this communication from the sender is
confidential. It is intended solely for use by the recipient and others
authorized to receive it. If you are not the recipient, you are hereby
notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in
relation of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and
may be unlawful.

This email has been scanned for viruses and malware, and may have been
automatically archived by Mimecast Ltd, an innovator in Software as a
Service (SaaS) for business. Providing a safer and more useful place for
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References

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