Ecology Surveys for Places for Everyone Allocations
Dear Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council,
Please provide a list of ecological surveys undertaken since 2016 (showing the date of the survey) for each of the Places for Everyone Allocations, together with the associated reports received and any logs/reports that show how the data set out in the ecological reports impacted or revised the proposed Allocation. Please also provide any associated correspondence relating to consideration of these specific sites, particularly in relation to consideration of their status as Priority Habitats.
Yours faithfully,
Susan Sollazzi
Thank you for contacting Trafford Information Governance Team; please treat this automatic email reply as confirmation that we have received your enquiry and will respond to you accordingly.
If you have access to the Internet you may wish to see if your enquiry can be dealt with online at [1]www.trafford.gov.uk. The council's website enables many forms to be completed and payments to be made online, as well as providing comprehensive information.
Kind regards
Information Governance Team
Trafford Council
This email and its attachments are confidential and for the exclusive use
of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s)
please do not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on it or
any attachments. If you have received this communication in error please
notify the sender immediately by e-mail or by telephone and then
permanently delete the e-mail and any copies of it. The Council may be
required to disclose this email or any response to it under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
The full Trafford Council email disclaimer can be viewed at:
[2]http://www.trafford.gov.uk/emaildisclaim...
GCSX This transmission is intended for the named addressee(s) only and may
contain sensitive or protectively marked material up to RESTRICTED and
should be handled accordingly. Unless you are the named addressee (or
authorised to receive it for the addressee) you may not copy or use it, or
disclose it to anyone else. If you have received this transmission in
error please notify the sender immediately. All GCSX traffic may be
subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant
legislation.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.trafford.gov.uk/
2. http://www.trafford.gov.uk/emaildisclaim...
Thank you for your email.
Your enquiry has been given the reference number 13445. Please quote this in all future correspondence with regard to this enquiry.
We aim to respond fully to all emails from the public as soon as possible, where they are seeking a response.
If you are requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act or environmental Information Regulations, there is a 20 working day statutory timescale within which to provide the information requested, subject to any exemptions which may apply. The 20 working day timescale will start on the first working day following receipt of your email.
If you have access to the Internet you may wish to see if your enquiry can be dealt with online at www.trafford.gov.uk. The council's website enables many forms to be completed and payments to be made online, as well as providing comprehensive information.
Thank you
Trafford Council
Good afternoon
Further to your FOI request, please see below.
Qu Part 1: Please provide a list of ecological surveys undertaken since
2016 (showing the date of the survey) for each of the Places for Everyone
Allocations, together with the associated reports received and any
logs/reports that show how the data set out in the ecological reports
impacted or revised the proposed Allocation.
Response:
Please see the Supporting and Background Evidence Documents 2021,
[1]Supporting Documents 2021 - Greater Manchester Combined Authority
(greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk) in particular the documents relating to the
site allocations, document references 10.01 to 10.10 and evidence
published on the examination website: [2]GMCA – Places For Everyone Joint
DPD | Helen Wilson Consultancy Limited (hwa.uk.com)
Qu Part 2: Please also provide any associated correspondence relating to
consideration of these specific sites, particularly in relation to
consideration of their status as Priority Habitats.
Response:
This part of your request is too broad and we are unable to fully and
clearly identify the specific information you have requested. In order
for us to consider your request further, please can you provide further
details to assist us in identifying, locating and providing you with the
information that you have requested. You could do this by narrowing down
your request, perhaps by clarifying which organisations the correspondence
would be between, and being more specific in relation to what matters the
correspondence on the specific sites would consider.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your
original letter and should be addressed to: Information Governance
Manager, Trafford Council, Town Hall, Talbot Road Stretford M32 0TH or via
email to [3][Trafford Council request email]
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
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
The supply of information in response to a freedom of information request
does not confer an automatic right to re-use the information. Under UK
copyright law you can use any information supplied for the purposes of
private study and non-commercial research without requiring permission.
Similarly, information supplied can also be re-used for the purposes of
news reporting. An exception to this is photographs.
For other forms of re-use, for example publishing the information, you
would need the permission of the organisation or person who owns the
copyright. In the case of information produced by government departments
and agencies you can re-use the information under the Open Government
Licence. For information about this please see
[4]http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/o...
If, however, the copyright is identified as belonging to somebody else,
you will need to apply for permission. For information about how to
obtain permission from a third party, please go to Intellectual Property
Office’s website at [5]www.ipo.gov.uk
Kind regards,
Jennie Ward
Senior PA to Richard Roe,
Corporate Director for Place
Trafford Town Hall | Talbot Road
Stretford | M32 0TH | 0161 912 4111
Trafford – where all our residents,
communities & businesses prosper
Dear Ms Ward,
Thank you for your response to my FoI request dated regarding ecological surveys undertaken since 2016 for each of the Places for Everyone Allocations. I provide the following to assist you and hope you will now reply in full.
Re part 1 of the question, I did not request the PfE ecological appraisals, but rather a list detailing the survey work undertaken at these sites and the resulting reports – regardless of whether they formed part of the PfE evidence base. We are aware of site visits by the GMEU and others, so we would like a copy of the survey reports from these visits since 2016.
Re part 2 of the question, I will limit the scope to communications between the Local Planning Authority and the GMCA/GMEU relating to correspondence regarding the ecology/ecological appraisals for the sites within your area in Places for Everyone.
Yours sincerely,
Susan Sollazzi
Thank you for your email.
Your enquiry has been given the reference number 13535 . Please quote this in all future correspondence with regard to this enquiry.
We aim to respond fully to all emails from the public as soon as possible, where they are seeking a response.
If you are requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act or Environmental Information Regulations, there is a 20 working day statutory timescale within which to provide the information requested, subject to any exemptions which may apply. The 20 working day timescale will start on the first working day following receipt of your email.
If you have access to the Internet you may wish to see if your enquiry can be dealt with online at www.trafford.gov.uk. The council's website enables many forms to be completed and payments to be made online, as well as providing comprehensive information.
Thank you
Trafford Council
Dear Data Protection,
I cannot understand this belated acknowledgement. By law, the authority should normally have responded promptly and by 8 November 2023. There is no explanation of your significant delay.
Yours sincerely,
Susan Sollazzi
Good afternoon
Re part 1 of the question, I did not request the PfE ecological
appraisals, but rather a list detailing the survey work undertaken at
these sites and the resulting reports – regardless of whether they formed
part of the PfE evidence base. We are aware of site visits by the GMEU and
others, so we would like a copy of the survey reports from these visits
since 2016.
Response:
The Council only holds and/or has access or records of ecological
appraisals, survey work and resultant reports in relation to Places to
Everyone (PfE) or those submitted as part of submitted planning
applications. The former are contained in the Supporting and Background
Evidence Documents 2021, [1]Supporting Documents 2021 - Greater Manchester
Combined Authority (greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk) in particular the
documents relating to the site allocations, document references 10.01 to
10.10 and evidence published on the examination website: [2]GMCA – Places
For Everyone Joint DPD | Helen Wilson Consultancy Limited (hwa.uk.com);
the latter are publicly available via the Council’s [3]planning
application webpages.
A list can be produced from this information.
Further information regarding this matter may be available from the
Greater Manchester Ecology Unit (GMEU).
Re part 2 of the question, I will limit the scope to communications
between the Local Planning Authority and the GMCA/GMEU relating to
correspondence regarding the ecology/ecological appraisals for the sites
within your area in Places for Everyone.
Response:
Having carefully considered the matter, the Council has determined that
request for ‘communications between the Local Planning Authority and the
GMCA/ GMEU’ is exempt under section 12(4)(e) of the Environmental
Information Regulations relating to the disclosure of internal
communications.
In coming to this conclusion, consideration has been given to what is
known as “the public interest test”. In relation to that, it is recognised
that the disclosure of the requested information promotes openness and
transparency, thereby improving the confidence of the public that they are
involved in the plan-making process. However, it is also recognised that a
public authority needs a safe space to develop ideas, debate live issues,
particularly as part of the process of formulating and developing policy.
The need for public authorities to have a “thinking space” for policy
development still in the course of completion is important and it protects
the integrity of the formal decision-making process and public
consultation which follows. The disclosure of the information requested
would inhibit free and frank discussions in the future, and that loss of
frankness and candour would damage the quality of advice and lead to
poorer decision making. On balance, it is therefore considered that the
public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest
in disclosure.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your
original letter and should be addressed to: Information Governance
Manager, Trafford Council, Town Hall, Talbot Road Stretford M32 0TH or via
email to [4][Trafford Council request email]
Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.
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
The supply of information in response to a freedom of information request
does not confer an automatic right to re-use the information. Under UK
copyright law you can use any information supplied for the purposes of
private study and non-commercial research without requiring permission.
Similarly, information supplied can also be re-used for the purposes of
news reporting. An exception to this is photographs.
For other forms of re-use, for example publishing the information, you
would need the permission of the organisation or person who owns the
copyright. In the case of information produced by government departments
and agencies you can re-use the information under the Open Government
Licence. For information about this please see
[5]http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/o...
If, however, the copyright is identified as belonging to somebody else,
you will need to apply for permission. For information about how to
obtain permission from a third party, please go to Intellectual Property
Office’s website at [6]www.ipo.gov.uk
Kind regards,
Jennie Ward
Senior PA to Richard Roe,
Corporate Director for Place
Trafford – where all our residents,
communities & businesses prosper
Dear Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Ecology Surveys for Places for Everyone Allocations'. My reasons are as follows:
- the GMCA stated in GMCA43 (11) of the PfE plan "For a plan such as PfE, it is considered proportionate to carry out high-level assessments of ecological features present, or potentially present, within a site and its zone of influence. Such assessments are often referred to as “Preliminary Ecological Appraisals” (PEAs). "
- in GMCA43 (16) that "Ecologists from GMEU have also carried out site visits to all the proposed PfE allocations and undertaken walkover surveys to assess habitat types, distribution and condition as far as is practicable"
- the documents referred to in part one of the response do not contain any ecology appraisals so these must either be held elsewhere or they are not available (in which case Trafford should confirm this)
- the response at part 2 refuses to share the information on the grounds of the public interest test. We believe it is in the public interest for this data to be shared and will raise a complaint to the Information Commissioner if this data is not provided because it relates to factual data (not thinking space), it relates to specific documentation that confirms compliance with the NPPF (it is not about development of ideas or debating live issues), it is validation of decisions that have already been made (it is not about the process of formulating or developing policy).
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/e...
Yours faithfully,
Susan Sollazzi
Dear Susan
Thank you for your email below regarding our response to your FOI, reference 13445
Your request has now been passed for internal review. We aim to complete all internal reviews within 20 working days. We will notify you of the outcome of the review and, where appropriate, provide the requested information.
If you require any further information in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards
Information Governance
Legal Services | Trafford Council | Trafford Town Hall | Talbot Road | Stretford | M32 0TH
Email: [Trafford Council request email]
Dear Susan Sollazzi
Thank you for your email of the 21 November 2023, in which you expressed dissatisfaction with our response to your request for information. I apologise for the delay in handling your request.
Your request was passed for internal review and that review has now been completed. Please see attached.
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
The supply of information in response to a freedom of information request does not confer an automatic right to re-use the information. Under UK copyright law you can use any information supplied for the purposes of private study and non-commercial research without requiring permission. Similarly, information supplied can also be re-used for the purposes of news reporting. An exception to this is photographs.
For other forms of re-use, for example publishing the information, you would need the permission of the organisation or person who owns the copyright. In the case of information produced by government departments and agencies you can re-use the information under the Open Government Licence. For information about this please see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/o...
If, however, the copyright is identified as belonging to somebody else, you will need to apply for permission. For information about how to obtain permission from a third party, please go to Intellectual Property Office’s website at www.ipo.gov.uk
Yours sincerely,
Information Governance
Legal Services | Trafford Council | Trafford Town Hall | Talbot Road | Stretford | M32 0TH
Email: [email address]
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now