Discussions with Hastings Borough Council on Ecclesbourne Glen and the England Coastal Path

The request was partially successful.

Dear Natural England,

There is an ongoing landslip in Ecclesbourne Glen which has closed the glen and route of the coastal path since 2013. To date no action has been taken by Hastings Borough Council (HBC) to stabilise the landslip and to re-open the footpaths.

In a written reply to a question in full council on 15/02/2017 the leader of the council Peter Chowney stated:

"Natural England visited Hastings Country Park in August 2016 to inform the Council of the process to implement the England Coastal Path from 2017. They made it clear they were not in a position to give specific advice with regards the Ecclesbourne footpath at this stage. The Council will liaise with Natural England on the implementation of England Coastal Path when requested. They have indicated that where it is not possible to follow the coastal path, there is consideration in the methodology for diverting the footpath away from landslips and coastal erosion sites. "

Could you please provide all correspondence, documents and other written information relating to this statement including:

1. Natural England's visit to the Country park in August 2016
2. All information provided to HBC as a result of this visit
3. All information pertaining to the landslip and coastal footpath in Ecclesbourne Glen

Could you please also provide:

4. All correspondence and documents made between Natural England and HBC concerning Ecclesbourne Glen, the coastal path, the landslip and Rocklands caravan site from 2012 to date.

Please treat this as a request under EIR regulations.

Thanks in advance

Yours faithfully,

Chris Hurrell

FOI (NE), Natural England

Dear Mr Hurrell

 

Access to information request – Acknowledgement – Request No RFI 3792

 

Thank you for your request for the information detailed in your email
below, which we received on 16 February 2017. We are dealing with your
request under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

 

Your request is being considered and we will send out our response within
the legal deadline of 20 working days which is 16 March 2017. If, for any
reason, we are unable to meet the deadline we will keep you fully informed
of the reasons for this.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Kate Donovan

Adviser - Access to Information

Legal Services

 

Natural England

Email: [Natural England request email]

 

Make a request for information to Natural England

 

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wildlife is protected and England's traditional landscapes are safeguarded
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FOI (NE), Natural England

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Hurrell

 

Please find attached Natural England's response to your request for
information.

 

Thanks

Darren

_____________________________________________________________

Darren Green, Senior Adviser – Access to Information

Natural England, Legal Services,

County Hall, Spetchley Road,

Worcester, WR5 2NP

T: 0208 026 0936

M: 078101 56750

 

[1][email address]

[2]Make a request for information to Natural England

_____________________________________________________________

 

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Dear FOI (NE),

Thank you for the information provided. I remain concerned that the information provided is not a comprehensive list of all correspondence between NE and HBC as requested.

My reasons for this are:

1. The correspondence appears to be disjointed and indicates that there are gaps in the correspondence
2. Correspondence/documents referred to in the released correspondence have not been supplied.
3. The correspondence released under this requests is different from correspondence released under request 3425 which requested all correspondence between HBC and NE. Documents released under 3425 were not released under this request and docs released in this request were not released under 3425.

Could you please review this request and ensure that all relevant correspondence has been released.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Hurrell

FOI (NE), Natural England

Dear Mr Hurrell
 
Thank you for your email.
 
I have reviewed the material sent in this request with that sent for RFI
3425.
 
You asked some specific questions:
 

 1. The correspondence appears to be disjointed and indicates that there
are gaps in the correspondence.

I'm afraid that this is common with email communications. We did supply
everything we held, but if there is anything specific that you feel we
should hold then please provide specific details like date, time, from/to.
 

 2. Correspondence/documents referred to in the released correspondence
have not been supplied.

I've reviewed the attachments listed in the emails and they are either
provided as standalone documents or in the case of the email called 'RE_
Temp  path closures at HCPNR.pdf' are embedded in the document and can be
double-clicked to open. However, if there is anything specific that you
feel is missing then please provide details, like the source email and/or
the name of the document.
 

 3. The correspondence released under this requests is different from
correspondence released under request 3425 which requested all
correspondence between HBC and NE. Documents released under 3425 were
not released under this request and docs released in this request were
not released under 3425.

When I processed your request I started with the material we released with
RFI 3425 and then added the additional material that was in scope of your
request. Therefore, I can confirm that every email released under RFI 3425
was released with your request. More information was released in your
request as this request was larger in scope than RFI 3425. If you feel
that this is not the case, then please provide specific information.
 
I hope the above answers your questions.
 
Thanks
Darren
_______________________________________________________________
Darren Green, Senior Adviser – Access to Information
 
Legal and Governance Team
 
T: 0208 026 0936
M: 078101 56750

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