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Information on ownership and lease details of land on or around Chester Racecourse (The Roodee)

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Dear Cheshire West and Chester Council,

Please could you send me all documents relating to the ownership of land situated on and around Chester Racecourse (The Roodee) that is or has been owned by Chester City Council, Cheshire County Council or Cheshire West and Chester Council.

I would also like all information available that relates to any lease that is currently in place that allows any company to run council owned land on or nearby Chester Racecourse, this should include the riverside path that runs adjacent to Chester Racecourse; and information regarding who has permission to lock gates that are situated along this path.

I previously made a request in August/September 2012 (Reference: 101000748952) for details of the lease agreement that is currently in place that concerns use of the land still owned by Cheshire West and Chester Council at the site. I would like all documents that were sent to me as a result of that request to be resent if possible.

In particular I would like all information that relates to the following:

- All details of land/buildings sold by Chester City Council, Cheshire County Council & Cheshire West and Chester Situated at the site Commonly known as Chester Racecourse between January 1940 & June 2015 inclusive. This should include information regarding prices paid for any sales. This information should include land on the racecourse itself, and any surrounding land between Grosvenor Road, Nuns Road, New Crane Street (From its Junction with Nuns Road to its Junction with Walls Avenue) & The River Dee.

- All details of any land/buildings leased to Chester Race Company from Chester City Council, Cheshire County Council & Cheshire West & Chester Council between January 1970 & June 2015 inclusive. This should include terms and conditions for these agreements. This information should include land on the racecourse itself, and any surrounding land between Grosvenor Road, Nuns Road, New Crane Street (From its Junction with Nuns Road to its Junction with Walls Avenue) & The River Dee.

Your assistance with this matter would be appreciated.

Yours faithfully

Cheshire West and Chester Council

Dear Mr Lloyd

Reference:101003194653

Thank you for your request for information about ' Information on ownership and lease details of land on or around Chester Racecourse (The Roodee)', which we received on 10 July 2015. We are dealing with your request under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

As required by the legislation, we aim to answer your request within 20 working days from the date we received it. If for any reason we are unable to meet this deadline we will keep you fully informed of the reasons for this.

If you have any queries about this email please contact FOIWEST.

Ruth Winson
Solutions Team

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Dear Cheshire West and Chester Council,

I am disappointed that you have yet to respond to my request, the FOI law requires you to respond to my request promptly, this has clearly not been the case. Could you please respond as soon as possible because I would prefer to not have to make a complaint.

Yours faithfully,

Gary Lloyd

FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

Dear Mr Lloyd

Thank you for your email of 31 August. I apologise that you have not yet received a response. I have asked a colleague to provide an update for you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

Ruth Winson
Solutions Team

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FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

Good morning Mr Lloyd

I apologise for the length of time it is taking to respond to your request this is because we are dealing with an extremely high volume of enquiries.

I have contacted the service this morning who have advised that they will be able to provide a response early next week.

Regards
Bev

Bev Wright
Solutions Officer
Cheshire West & Chester

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Dear Cheshire West and Chester Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Cheshire West and Chester Council's handling of my FOI request 'Information on ownership and lease details of land on or around Chester Racecourse (The Roodee)'.

I have still not had a satisfactory response to my request, despite being very patient. My request was made almost 80 days ago, I will be making a complaint to the information commissioner but I still require the information that I requested. The lack of information does make one wonder whether there is some level of coercion between the council and private companies - and whether the delayed response to this request has been deliberate in order to protect the interests of private companies associated with some details of the request.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...

Yours faithfully,

Gary Lloyd

FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

Dear Mr Lloyd

I am sorry you have had cause to complain about the delay in dealing with your request, we are currently dealing with a backlog of cases and working on improvements to our system and resources allocation to better meet our deadlines. I can confirm that your request will be passed to internal review stage and you will receive an acknowledgement of this under separate cover.

In the meantime, I have escalated your case and have asked a member of the team to collate a response and forward it to you as soon as possible. I hope to have this completed by early next week. I can assure you that the Council and this team consider all requests on merit and, only where necessary, apply appropriate exemptions/exceptions with full consideration of the public interest test where required.

Yours sincerely

Miriam Wallace

Miriam Wallace
Solutions Team Manager
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Tel: 01244 972212

Email: [email address]
Location: Floor 2, HQ Building, 58 Nicholas Street, Chester, CH1 2NP
Visit: cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

Winners of the MJ 2015 Best Achieving Council National Achievement Award

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FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

5 Attachments

Dear Mr Lloyd,

 

Thank you for your request for information which has been logged as
reference 3194653.

 

We can confirm that your request has been dealt with under the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and sincerely apologise for the
delay in responding to your request.

 

The FOIA provides that environmental information is an absolute exemption
(section 39(1)) and therefore requests for environmental information must
be dealt with under the EIR.

 

The EIR defines environmental information as being any information in
written, visual, aural, electronic or any material form on- 

 

2(1) (a) the state of the elements of the environment, such as air and
atmosphere,  water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites including
wetlands, coastal and marine areas, biological diversity and its
components, including genetically modified organisms, and the interaction
among these elements;

               

2(1)(b) factors such as substances, energy, noise, radiation or waste,
including radioactive waste, emissions, discharges and other releases into
the environment, affecting or likely to affect the elements of the
environment referred to in (a);

 

2(1)( c ) measures (including administrative measures)such as policies,
legislation, plans, programmes, environmental agreements, and activities
affecting or likely to affect the elements and factors referred to in (a)
and (b) as well as measures or activities designed to protect those
elements;

 

2(1) (d) reports on the implementation of environmental legislation;

 

2(1) (e) cost-benefit and other economic analyses and assumptions used
within the framework of the measures and activities referred to in (c);

 

2(1) (f) the state of human health and safety, including the contamination
of the food chain, where relevant, conditions of human life, cultural
sites and built structures inasmuch as they are or may be affected by the
state of the elements of the environment referred to in (a) or, through
those elements by any, matters referred to in (b) and (c).

 

The request therefore falls to be considered within Regulation 2 (1) (a)
and (c) of the EIR as the information requested concerns the state of land
at The Roodee, Chester.

 

For the purposes of clarity we now reproduce your request below and append
our response beneath each separate question.

 

 1. Please could you send me all documents relating to the ownership of
land situated on and around Chester Racecourse (The Roodee) that is or
has been owned by Chester City Council, Cheshire County Council or
Cheshire West and Chester Council.

 

Response – Please find enclosed Title Number CH440449 (Chester
Racecourse). This document was provided to you in 2012 and is the only
document Cheshire West and Chester Council holds in relation to the
ownership of Chester Racecourse.

 

 2. I would also like all information available that relates to any lease
that is currently in place that allows any company to run council
owned land on or nearby Chester Racecourse, this should include the
riverside path that runs adjacent to Chester Racecourse; and
information regarding who has permission to lock gates that are
situated along this path.

 

Response – Please find enclosed lease documents disclosed to you in your
request of 2012. In addition we have located a supplementary lease from
2006 which incorporates a section of  land in addition to the 2000
boundary. We can advise you that there has been no alterations to the
lease itself since 2000. Covenant 4.1.3 of the supplementary lease relates
to the crossing of the pathway and gates.

 

 3. I previously made a request in August/September 2012 (Reference:
101000748952)  for details of the lease agreement that is currently in
place that concerns use of the land still owned by Cheshire West and
Chester Council at the site. I would like all documents that were sent
to me as a result of that request to be resent if possible.

 

Response – We attach the documents supplied you in 2012 under reference
number 748952.

 

In particular I would like all information that relates to the following:

 

 4. All details of land/buildings sold by Chester City Council, Cheshire
County Council & Cheshire West and Chester Situated at the site
Commonly known as Chester Racecourse between January 1940 & June 2015
inclusive. This should include information regarding prices paid for
any sales. This information should include land on the racecourse
itself, and any surrounding land between Grosvenor Road, Nuns Road,
New Crane Street (From its Junction with Nuns Road to its Junction
with Walls Avenue) & The River Dee.

 

Response – Please note that we have provided the Land Registry title from
2009 which is the only information the Council holds in relation to the
ownership of Chester Racecourse. Historical information on the sale of
Council-owned land/buildings is destroyed in accordance with the Council’s
retention schedule.

 

 5. All details of any land/buildings leased to Chester Race Company from
Chester City Council, Cheshire County Council & Cheshire West &
Chester Council between January 1970 & June 2015 inclusive. This
should include terms and conditions for these agreements. This
information should include land on the racecourse itself, and any
surrounding land between Grosvenor Road, Nuns Road, New Crane Street
(From its Junction with Nuns Road to its Junction with Walls Avenue) &
The River Dee.

 

Response – The Council holds no further information on previous leases
prior to the current lease to Chester Race Company in 2000. Historical
lease information is destroyed in accordance with the Council’s retention
schedule.

 

The Council considers that your request has been answered in full by
either confirming that information is not held, providing you with the
information requested, or explaining why any information has been withheld
and the reasons for any redaction.  Where applicable, the Council has also
told you the reasons for the delay in responding to your request.

 

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled you can request a review by writing to the Solutions Team within
40 working days from the date of the Council’s response.  You are entitled
to a review by the Council if:

·         You are dissatisfied with the Council’s explanation of why the
application was not dealt with within the 20 working day time limit.

·         All the information requested is not being disclosed and you
have not received an explanation why some information is not being
disclosed.

·         A reason for the disclosures under the request being refused is
not received.

·         You consider that exemptions have been wrongly applied, and/or

·         You consider that a fee has been wrongly applied.

Please set out your grounds for seeking a review together with what
specific part of your request those grounds apply to and the outcome you
are seeking.  The Council reserves the right to ask you for clarification
of the grounds for your review request if the grounds are not clear, and
to delay commencing the review if such grounds are not provided.

 

The Solutions Team can be contacted by email via: 
[1][Cheshire West and Chester Council request email] or at the following address:

 

Solutions Team

Cheshire West and Chester Council

HQ

58 Nicholas Street

Chester

CH1 2NP

 

The Solutions Team will acknowledge a request for an internal review
within 5 working days and complete the review as soon as possible and no
later than 40 working days from receipt of the request.

 

More information about the Council’s internal review process can be found
via:
[2]http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk...

 

If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of your review, you have
a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

 

The Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

Telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45

Website: [3]www.ico.gov.uk

 

There is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Stephanie Harrison
Solutions Team
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Location: HQ, Nicholas Street, Chester, CH1 2NP 
Visit:  cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Cheshire West and Chester Council request email]
2. http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk...
3. http://www.ico.gov.uk/

Dear FOI West,

Thank you for your response to my request.

I presume there must be some documents missing; in particular there must have been some communication to allow Chester Race Company to be permitted temporary buildings on a much bigger area of the racecourse, as the 'built up' area in the middle of the course is now much more substantial than that marked out in the latest lease document.

There also seems no permission in the documents to allow the racecourse to prevent members of the public access to the track itself, during non racedays. They have signage throughout the year asking people not to enter the track so I would imagine there must be communication between CWAC and Chester Race Company to permit this.

With regards the cycle path on the River Dee side of the racecourse; It would appear that the perimeter of the area that all of these lease cover extends only as far as the edge of the racecourse, and do not cover the area which the path falls on. Could CWAC please confirm where Chester Race Company have been given permission to manage this path, and in particular where they are allowed to lock the gates at each end of this path when they feel it necessary.

If details of the any communication between Cheshire West and Chester Council and The Chester Race Company Limited that extend the scope of any of the agreements could also be disclosed I am confident that my request would have been satisfied.

Yours sincerely,

Gary Lloyd

FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

Dear Mr Lloyd,

Thank you for your email outlining your concerns over the handling of your request. The Council is unable to address your concerns at internal review stage as your request falls outside the 40 working days from the date of the Council’s response. We can instead direct your enquiries to the Property Department who will respond to you as routine business. We therefore ask if you could provide an email address for our Property Department to respond directly. Please confirm your email address to [Cheshire West and Chester Council request email]

We note you have also made a further request for disclosure:

"If details of the any communication between Cheshire West and Chester Council and The Chester Race Company Limited that extend the scope of any of the agreements could also be disclosed I am confident that my request would have been satisfied."

Your request will be logged and as required by the legislation, the Council aims to answer your request within 20 working days.

Please do not hesitate to contact FOI West if you have any questions.

Yours sincerely,

Stephanie Harrison
Solutions Team
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Location: HQ, Nicholas Street, Chester, CH1 2NP 
Visit:  cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

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Cheshire West and Chester Council

RE: Your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Case Reference: 101004120895

Dear Mr Lloyd

Thank you for your email.

It will be treated as a request within the meaning of the Act: this means that we will send you a full response within 20 working days, either supplying you with the information which you want, or explaining to you why we cannot supply it.

If we need any further clarification or there is any problem we will be in touch.

In the meantime if you wish to discuss this further please contact FOI WEST. It would be helpful if you could quote the log number.

Yours sincerely

FOI Unit

Solutions Team

Cheshire West and Chester Council

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FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

Dear Mr Lloyd,

 

Thank you for your request for information of 31^st May 2016 which has
been logged as 4120895 and has been dealt with under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. We apologise for the delay in responding.

 

For the purpose of clarity your request has been reproduced below:

 

If details of the any communication between Cheshire West and Chester
Council and The Chester Race Company Limited that extend the scope of any
of the agreements could also be disclosed I am confident that my request
would have been satisfied.

 

Response: We confirm that Cheshire West and Chester Council does not hold
information relating to your request as the Council has not entered into
discussions to extend any of the agreements in place at the Race Course.
We confirm the Council is in discussions with the Race Company about the
possibility of a new management Agreement.

 

The Council considers that your request has been answered in full by
either confirming that information is not held, providing you with the
information requested, or explaining why any information has been withheld
and the reasons for any redaction.    Where applicable, the Council has
also told you the reasons for the delay in responding to your request.

 

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled you can request a review by writing to the Solutions Team within
40 working days from the date of the Council’s response.  You are entitled
to a review by the Council if:

·         You are dissatisfied with the Council’s explanation of why the
application was not dealt with within the 20 working day time limit.

·         All the information requested is not being disclosed and you
have not received an explanation why some information is not being
disclosed.

·         A reason for the disclosures under the request being refused is
not received.

·         You consider that exemptions have been wrongly applied, and/or

·         You consider that a fee has been wrongly applied.

Please set out your grounds for seeking a review together with what
specific part of your request those grounds apply to and the outcome you
are seeking.  The Council reserves the right to ask you for clarification
of the grounds for your review request if the grounds are not clear, and
to delay commencing the review if such grounds are not provided.

 

The Solutions Team can be contacted by email via: 
[1][Cheshire West and Chester Council request email] or at the following address:

 

Solutions Team

Cheshire West and Chester Council

HQ

58 Nicholas Street

Chester

CH1 2NP

 

The Solutions Team will acknowledge a request for an internal review
within 5 working days and complete the review as soon as possible and no
later than 40 working days from receipt of the request.

 

More information about the Council’s internal review process can be found
via:
[2]http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk...

 

If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of your review, you have
a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

 

The Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

Telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45

Website: [3]www.ico.gov.uk

 

There is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Solutions Team

Cheshire West and Chester Council

 

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We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Gary Lloyd please sign in and let everyone know.