Communications between Fenland Disctrict Council/Fenland Future Limited and representatives/owners/applicants for the "Rickwood" land
Dear Fenland District Council,
Under the Environmental Information Regulations disclosure scheme, please could you provide me with any communications between Fenland District Council and/or Fenland Future Ltd and the owners of the "Rickwood" land (the land that is the subject of planning application F/YR21/0981/F) or their representatives (including, but not limited to, Cannon Kirk and Pegasus Group).
I believe that there is a strong public interest case for releasing this information, because on 28th June 2021 the council's Investment Board discussed this land (FOI8156). This was prior to the receipt of the planning application that was published by Fenland District Council in late August 2021, and therefore suggests that the council had some indication that an application was being prepared and was due imminently. Furthermore, the council has disclosed that "the Council’s brief discussion of the land in question was within the context of its own development aspirations and the options available to it". There is a clear potential for a conflict of interest between the Investment Board's desire to develop the East Chatteris BCP that it owns and the Planning Committee's decision-making duties regarding application F/YR21/0981/F. This is exacerbated by the fact that the vice-chair of the investment board is also a member of the planning committee, and the council has not provided any assurances that this member will recuse themselves from the decision-making process. The only way to resolve this conflict of interest, in my view, is to ensure that there is full transparency regarding communications between members, the investment board, Fenland Futures Limited and external representatives of the owners and the owners themselves.
Furthermore, the applicant has now acknowledged that - even with mitigations in place - application F/YR21/0981/F would result in a Net Biodiversity Loss. While these losses are relatively small, they are only small because of an ambitious and possibly unachievable Ecological Management Plan, and an independent review of the Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment has suggested that the losses could be even greater than claimed. Either way, it falls well short of the 10% gain that is likely to be required by the Environment Act 2021. Although the provisons for mandatory Net Biodiversity Gains for all developments contained within the Environment Act 2021 have not yet come into force, their inclusion in the act suggests that ensuring Net Biodiversity Gains are something that we should strive for and that any risk of biodiversity loss is of the utmost public interest. The government has also said that they intend to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. When making this announcement, the government said: "This will solidify the Government’s commitment to leave a richer, more biodiverse environment for future generations with a clear need for action: between 1932 and 1984, we lost 97% of our species-rich grassland, five species of butterfly have disappeared from England in the last 150 years, and indicators showing the state of birds dependent on farmland stand at less than half their value compared to 1970. This new amendment reflects the Prime Minister’s pledges on the international stage during the UK’s leadership of this year’s G7 summit - with the G7 committing to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030 as well as signing up to the global ‘30x30’ initiative to conserve or protect at least 30 per cent of the world’s land and at least 30 per cent of the world’s ocean by 2030 - and will enable us to meet our ambition to make this world-leading target the net zero equivalent for nature." The environment secretary said: "We have been clear about the need, and our intention, to halt the decline of our natural environment, and so we are strengthening our world-leading target to put this beyond doubt. It will be a challenging task, but halting this decline is a crucial part of our commitment to be the first generation to leave our environment in a better state." The fact that this application has implications for issues that the government considers to be of national and global importance, and which relate to inter-national agreements entered into by the government, suggests that the public interest in disclosure of this environmental information is stronger than previously understood by Fenland District Council.
I note that the exception 12(4)(e), relied upon by the council to refuse disclosure of communications between FDC and FFLtd do not apply to these communications.
I also note that the other exemptions that may apply all require the council to show that disclosure "would" (rather than "may") have an adverse effect. I also note that all of the relevant exemptions under the EIR are subject to the public interest test, and that the public interest has become significantly greater given the biodiversity losses that are likely to occur.
Yours faithfully,
Lawrence Weetman
Good Morning
I acknowledge your request for information received, which is being
investigated.
The Act allows the Council 20 working days to comply with your request.
During this time, the Council will assess the information to establish if
any exemptions apply. If it is felt that any information may be exempt
from disclosure, this will be given careful consideration and the Public
Interest Test will be applied if appropriate. If it is determined that any
material is exempt, you will be notified of which information is not going
to be released and the reasons why.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the Freedom of
Information Officer at Fenland District Council, or email
[1][Fenland District Council request email]. It would help us to help you if you could quote the
Information Request No, quoted above, on any correspondence.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
01354 654321
[2]www.fenland.gov.uk
[3]Medium logo 2008 cmyk
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References
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2. http://www.fenland.gov.uk/
4. http://www.fenland.gov.uk/threecs
Good afternoon,
Thank you for your recent request dated 14/04/22. Please could you clarify the time period in which your request relates to.
Kind regards
Freedom of Information Officer
01354 654321
www.fenland.gov.uk
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Dear foi,
Please could you please provide this information for the period of 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2021?
Many thanks,
Lawrence Weetman
Dear Mr Weetman,
Thank you for your reply, we will endeavour to get this information to you by the 16 March 2022 as per our original deadline of 20 working days. Please not this takes into account Easter holiday and May bank holiday.
Kind regards
Freedom of Information Officer
01354 654321
www.fenland.gov.uk
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Dear Mr Weetman,
Thank you for your request for information about which we received on
14/04/2022. Your request has been considered under the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.
Please find the information attached and below.
“Under the Environmental Information Regulations disclosure scheme, please
could you provide me with any communications between Fenland District
Council and/or Fenland Future Ltd and the owners of the "Rickwood" land
(the land that is the subject of planning application F/YR21/0981/F) or
their representatives (including, but not limited to, Cannon Kirk and
Pegasus Group)”.
You subsequently helpfully clarified the date range of 1st January 2021 to
31st December 2021.
• Correspondence between FDC and the Cannon Kirk application
F/YR21/0981/F is on the planning portal at FDC. Please also see
additional correspondence relating to that application attached.
• Other correspondence between FDC and “Rickwood” “Cannon Kirk”
“Pegasus” and “F/YR210981/F” = NIL response
• Correspondence between FFL and “Rickwood” “Cannon Kirk” “Pegasus” and
“F/YR210981/F” needs to be sent to the company secretary Anna Goodall
[1][email address]
Please note that personal data has been redacted in accordance with
Regulation 13 of the Environmental Information Regulation.
If you are unhappy with the way the authority has handled your request,
you may ask for an internal review. Please contact [2][email address]
who will arrange an internal review of your case. Under regulation 11(2),
you must contact us for a review no later than 40 working days after the
date of this email.
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 can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
WILMSLOW
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545700
[3]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
If you have any queries about this email please contact
[4][email address]. Please remember to quote the reference number above
in any future communications.
Yours faithfully,
Freedom of Information Officer
01354 654321
[5]www.fenland.gov.uk
[6]Medium logo 2008 cmyk
How did we do? Visit our website to [7]have your say
E-mails and any attachments from Fenland District Council (the Council)
are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the
sender immediately by replying to the e-mail, and then delete it without
making copies or using it in any other way or placing any reliance on it.
It is not intended that this e-mail shall constitute either an offer or
acceptance nor is it intended to form a contract between the Council and
the addressee or any third party.
Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the sender and do not
necessarily represent those of the Council unless otherwise specifically
stated.
Although any attachments to the message will have been checked for viruses
before transmission, you are urged to carry out your own virus check
before opening attachments, since the Council accepts no responsibility
for loss or damage caused by software viruses.
Senders and recipients of e-mail should be aware that, under the EU
General Data Protection Regulation 2016, the Freedom of Information Act
2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and other related
legislation, the contents of e-mails may have to be disclosed in response
to a request.
To provide you with our services we will need to record personal
information, such as your e-mail address. This information will be kept
securely and only accessed by approved staff. We will not share your
information with anyone else without first telling you. If you would like
more details about how we protect personal information, then please
contact our Data Protection Officer.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.fenland.gov.uk/
7. http://www.fenland.gov.uk/threecs
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