Locations of Historic Modal Filters & Road Blocks

The request was refused by Hounslow Borough Council.

Dear Hounslow Borough Council,

We would like to request the locations and any data held on road blocks and modal filters installed by the Council.
We are requesting the geographical locations of these blocks and modal filters installed between 1970 and 2015, as well as the dates they were installed, the type of filter and the materials used (if this information is available)

The data we require is:

1. Location
2. Date implemented (year or year/month)
3. Type of block or filter: allows pedestrians only, pedestrians & cyclists (modal filter), buses (bus gate), emergency services only (fire gate)
4. Information on materials if available (concrete, brick, planters etc.)

We are asking a number of Local Authorities for this information, and would like to make comparisons between authorities, so we may ask for clarification of some aspects and/or data points as part of our data cleaning process.

Thank you for your time, and we look forward to hearing from you

Yours faithfully,

Anzir Boodoo

Freedom of Information, Hounslow Borough Council

Thank you for your email which has been received by the Customer Relations
Team. Receipt of your request for information is acknowledged.   

We will either deal with your request or pass it onto our service teams to
provide you with a response.     

The Council will respond to your Freedom of Information request within 20
working days from the time of receipt if this is within working hours, or,
if received out of hours, from the next working day. Further information
can be found at the following link: 

[1]https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20110/o...

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information can be found at
[2]https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20110/o...
 

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Customer Relations Team 

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4. London Borough of Hounslow
https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/coronavirus

London Borough of Hounslow,

[1]London Borough of Hounslow
05-May-2021

Dear Anzir Boodoo,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request. The reference number
is FIR005500.

The Council aims to respond to your request within 20 working days.
However due to the current COVID-19 virus situation, there may be delays
in responding to you as the council may need to adapt our usual approach
during this extraordinary period.

We will, where at all possible, seek to comply with the timescales but
as this is an unprecedented situation, we hope you will understand that
it may not be possible.

Please use the reference number above for all future communication about
this case. You will be able to track the progress of this case by
logging into your My Hounslow Account.

Further information can be found on our website at the following link:
[2]Freedom of Information & Environmental Information Regulations

Kind regards,

Customer Relations
London Borough of Hounslow

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Freedom of Information, Hounslow Borough Council

Dear Anzir Boodoo,

Thank you for your below FOI request.

This has been logged under reference number FIR005500 to the service team for a response. This response will follow to you within the 20 working day deadline.

. For future reference, you are now able to use the online form to make further Freedom of Information Requests. This is our preferred method, because this form helps us to capture all of the information needed to respond to your request quickly.

Kind regards,
Kamaljit | Customer Relations Officer
2nd Floor, Hounslow House
London Borough of Hounslow
Office: 020 8583 5211
www.hounslow.gov.uk

Follow us online: Twitter: @LBofHounslow and Facebook: www.facebook.com/HounslowCouncil

For information about what we do with personal data see our privacy notice Customer services: privacy notice | Privacy notice 

show quoted sections

Seth Twombley, Hounslow Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Anzir Boodoo

 

Re: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 response

 

Thank you for your request for information of 5 May, you have requested
the following in relation to modal filters in Hounslow:

 

 

We would like to request the locations and any data held on road blocks
and modal filters installed by the Council.

We are requesting the geographical locations of these blocks and modal
filters installed between 1970 and 2015, as well as the dates they were
installed, the type of filter and the materials used (if this information
is available)

The data we require is:

1. Location
2. Date implemented (year or year/month)

3. Type of block or filter: allows pedestrians only, pedestrians &
cyclists (modal filter), buses (bus gate), emergency services only (fire
gate)

4. Information on materials if available (concrete, brick, planters etc.)

 

We are asking a number of Local Authorities for this information, and
would like to make comparisons between authorities, so we may ask for
clarification of some aspects and/or data points as part of our data
cleaning process.

 

 

Response

 

Hounslow do not hold a list of modal filters over this date range, and to
collate it from any historical records we do hold would be a lengthy
process, the information requested is therefore exempt under Section 12 of
the Freedom of Information Act 2002. Section 12 states that public
authorities do not have to comply with requests where they estimate that
the cost of the compliance will exceed the “appropriate limit”, which is
itself set out in The Freedom of Information and Data Protection
(Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulation 2004.

 

To provide more information on this, Hounslow council have been
introducing modal filters for many years, and to comply with this request
will involve Officers in the following activities which will take more
than 18 hours:  

 

Determining locations where modal filters have been introduced on a
borough-wide basis between 1970-2015

Carrying out searches of historical databases and records to determine if
records exist on implementation dates for each one identified, and
identifying the type of measure in place.

Determining construction material for each measure identified. 

 

Therefore, the council is not required to disclose information if finding
that information would take more than 18 hours. Guidance from the
Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is available [1]here.

 

It is also the case that Hounslow entered into a pfi contact in 2013 with
our contractors Hounslow Highways, and historical records prior that date
are not available.

 

The response to your request has been dealt with under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

 

Copyright and misuse of information

 

Most of the information that is provided in response to an FOI request
will be owned by the London Borough of Hounslow and is therefore covered
by the [2]Open Government Licence. However, the copyright of some of the
information we share may be owned by another person or organisation (e.g.
Ordnance Survey).

 

Individuals and organisations are free to re-use any information covered
by the Open Government Licence for commercial or non-commercial purposes,
provided the terms of the licence are adhered to. Where the copyright of
the information is owned by another person or organisation, you must apply
to the copyright owner to obtain their permission for re-use.

If you do not feel that the Council has dealt with your request for
information appropriately or wish to request a review of this response,
please contact the FOI/EIR Review Officer at [3][Hounslow Borough Council request email]

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision at
the following address;

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

Should you need further information please let me know.

 

Kind Regards

Seth

 

Seth Twombley |Transport Project Officer (Consultation, Community
Engagement, Business Systems)

London Borough of Hounslow
Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road

Hounslow TW3 3EB  

T: 0208 583 5213

[4]www.hounslow.gov.uk     [5]@LBofHounslow    [6][IMG][7] HounslowCouncil

 

References

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