Moelfre City Byway - PCC Signage (Part 2)

The request was partially successful.

Dear Powys County Council,

To FOI Request ‘Moelfre City Byway – PCC Signage’ Ref. No. F2018/0479 asking when PCC public signage was installed and removed PCC responded “No information held”.
Assuming due diligence and accountability of PCC records the fact that no information is held indicates that removal of the Council signs and Byway fingerpost by Little Moelfre may have been unlawful.

I therefore request answers to the following:
1. Does any currently serving PCC Countryside Services officer or PCC legal advisor know who removed the signs?
2. If so, was the removal approved by PCC?
3. Did any currently serving PCC Countryside Services Officer or PCC legal advisor
a) have verbal or written communication prior to mid-April 2016 with the owner or occupier of Little Moelfre, Llanbister, regarding prospective obstruction of access, to and from Moelfre City Byway, by means of gate removal, gate padlocking, fencing, or erection of signs to deter use?
b) have verbal or written communication with the owner or occupier of Little Moelfre, regarding prospective removal of the Council Byway signs or fingerpost?
c) enquire of the owner or occupier of Little Moelfre whether they had any information concerning who removed the Council signs or fingerpost?
4. Does PCC have a public duty or legal obligation to provide adequate signage identifying an existing ‘Byway Open to All Traffic’ at both ends?
5. Considering the following:
a) access to the other end of Moelfre City Byway has been recently comprehensively signed to indicate acceptability of all user groups including motor vehicles
b) the PCC Statement to the Definitive Map defines that Byway LB645 goes ‘from the District Road at Little Moelfre’
c) faced with an obstruction upon arrival at Little Moelfre there is no indication that users have reached the end or beginning of the Byway
d) public safety could currently be jeopardised due to the lack of signage identifying the location as the end of the Byway e.g. in bad weather, darkness, or in the event of an incident on the Byway or adjacent area requiring emergency overland access.

Has PCC scheduled for the replacement of the signs and fingerpost at Little Moelfre to ensure that the public are able to identify the location of the end of the Byway where it joins the District Road? If so, what is the estimated completion date.
6. PCC stated ‘However a survey comment dated 8th November 2017 states “Fingerpost removed following withdrawal of permissive access along farm track.” It is not known if that was the actual date of removal, or simply the date when the survey was carried out and the fingerpost noted as having been removed. End of quote.

PCC refer to “withdrawal of permissive access along farm track”, presumably by the currently registered land owner. Yet the historic rights over this highway are public rights. The 'farm track’ description is incidental and secondary. Any right to a farm access at this location derived only from the Crown Estate establishing precedent public access, and Rights of Way as applicable to Crown Common land. This applies to all the nearby properties which are also accessible only as a result of the same public rights over Crown Common.
Also, PCC has not concluded “that rights of way do not exist over the spur” (ref. Clive Pinney review 20/03/17 of Freedom of Information request F-2017-0047 ‘Moelfre City Byway Access Part 3’).
Quote: During the course of the investigation it became apparent that Powys County Council had not in fact concluded " that Rights of Way do not exist over the spur.." as stated by the requestor. That assessment has not been made. It is simply that the Definitive Map does not show any public right of way over it and neither is the route shown on the List of Streets as a highway maintainable at public expense. End quote.
This therefore raises my final questions:
What are the legal events from which PCC have ascertained
a) that permission is required to use the spur/road/highway/carriageway/’farm track’
b) that withdrawal of such permission takes legal precedent over existing rights - which PCC anyway have not concluded do not exist?

Yours faithfully,

A. WALKER

Information Compliance (CSP - Generic), Powys County Council

 

Cyfarwyddwr Strategol: Rheoli Gwybodaeth/
Adnoddau
Information Compliance
Strategic Director: Resources
Neuadd Y Sir / County Hall
David Powell
Spa Road East

Llandrindod Wells

Powys LD1 5LG
  If calling please ask for / Os yn galw
gofynnwch am
 
 
 
Tel / Ffôn:  01597 82 7543         
 
Fax / Ffacs:  01597 82 6215      
 
Email/Llythyru electronig:
  [1][Powys County Council request email]

Our ref / Ein cyf:  F2018-0684

Date / Dyddiad:   28/06/18

 

 

Request Accepted

 

FREEDOM of INFORMATION ACT 2000

Reference No: F2018/0684

 

Dear, Mr. Walker.

 

Thank you for your request for information, received at this office on 
28/06/2018, in which you requested details of the following:

 

Moelfre City Bypass PCC Signage (2)

 

 

The above is a summary of your request. The full details of the
information sought is provided to the officer to whom the request is
tasked.

 

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject
to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances Powys County Council may be unable to achieve
this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised
time-scale at the earliest opportunity.

 

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you. If you choose not to make a payment then your request will
remain unanswered.

 

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

 

The due date for responding to this request for information is 26/07/2018.

 

Should you need to discuss this further please contact the Information
Compliance Team on 01597 827543.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Joe Wozencraft

Information Compliance Officer

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Powys County Council request email]

Information Compliance (CSP - Generic), Powys County Council

Cyfarwyddwr Strategol: Rheoli Gwybodaeth/
Adnoddau
Information Compliance
Strategic Director: Resources
Neuadd Y Sir / County Hall
David Powell
Spa Road East

Llandrindod Wells

Powys LD1 5LG
  If calling please ask for / Os yn galw
gofynnwch am
 
 
 
Tel / Ffôn:  01597 82 7543         
 
Fax / Ffacs:  01597 82 6215      

Email/Llythyru electronig:
[1][Powys County Council request email]

Our ref / Ein cyf:  F2018-0684

Date / Dyddiad:   13/07/2018

 

Reference No: F2018-0684

 

 

Dear Mr Walker

 

Thank you for your request for information dated 28/6/18 concerning
Moelfre Byway PCC Signage (2)

 

This is to inform you that your request has been considered and I can
provide the following response:

 

The Request:

 

1.         Does any currently serving PCC Countryside Services officer or
PCC legal advisor know who removed the signs? Yes

2.         If so, was the removal approved by PCC? Yes.

 

3.         Did any currently serving PCC Countryside Services Officer or
PCC legal advisor

a)         have verbal or written communication prior to mid-April 2016
with the owner or occupier of Little Moelfre, Llanbister, regarding
prospective obstruction of access, to and from Moelfre City Byway, by
means of gate removal, gate padlocking, fencing, or erection of signs to
deter use?

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
required to inform you

1 (a) whether the information requested is held by the public authority,
and

(b) to have that information communicated if that is the case.

In this case the information requested is not held.

 

b)         have verbal or written communication with the owner or occupier
of Little Moelfre, regarding prospective removal of the Council Byway
signs or fingerpost?

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
required to inform you

1 (a) whether the information requested is held by the public authority,
and

(b) to have that information communicated if that is the case.

In this case the information requested is not held.

 

c)         enquire of the owner or occupier of Little Moelfre whether they
had any information concerning who removed the Council signs or
fingerpost?  

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is
required to inform you

1 (a) whether the information requested is held by the public authority,
and

(b) to have that information communicated if that is the case.

In this case the information requested is not held.

 

 

4.         Does PCC have a public duty or legal obligation to provide
adequate signage identifying an existing ‘Byway Open to All Traffic’ at
both ends?

 

Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Powys County
Council, when refusing to provide such information (because the
information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:

(a)  states that fact;

(b)  specifies the exemption in question and

(c)  states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption
applies.

In this instance the relevant exemption is Section 21 of the Freedom of
Information Act.

Section 21: Information accessible to applicant by other means -

(1) Information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise
than under section 1 is exempt information.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) -

(a) Information may be reasonably accessible to the applicant even though
it is accessible only on payment, and,

(b) Information is to be taken to be reasonably accessible to the
applicant if it is information which the public authority or any other
person is obliged by or under any enactment to communicate (otherwise than
by making the information available for inspection) to members of the
public on request, whether free of charge or on payment.

 

This is a matter of law and the requestor is respectfully referred to the
Countryside Act 1968, which sets out the legal duties and powers of a
highway authority in relation to signposting of public rights of way.

 

5. Has PCC scheduled for the replacement of the signs and fingerpost at
Little Moelfre to ensure that the public are able to identify the location
of the end of the Byway where it joins the District Road? If so, what is
the estimated completion date.  

See below – this relates to an ongoing investigation.

 

6. What are the legal events from which PCC have ascertained

a)   that permission is required to use the
spur/road/highway/carriageway/’farm track’

b)   that withdrawal of such permission takes legal precedent over
existing rights - which PCC anyway have not concluded do not exist?

 

Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Powys County
Council, when refusing to provide such information (because the
information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:

(a)states that fact;

(b)  specifies the exemption in question and

(c)  states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption
applies.

In this instance the relevant exemption is Section 22 of the Freedom of
Information Act:

Section 22: Information intended for future publication -

(1) Information is exempt information if -

(a) The information is held by the public authority with a view to its
publication, by the authority or any other person, at some future date
(whether determined or not),

(b) The information was already held with a view to such publication at
the time when the request for information was made, and,

(c) It is reasonable in all the circumstances that the information should
be withheld from disclosure until the date referred to in paragraph (a).

(2) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that,
compliance with section 1(1) (a) would involve the disclosure of any
information (whether or not already recorded) which falls within
subsection (1).

 

These last three points (5, 6a and 6b) relate to an ongoing investigation
into the status of the route to which the requestor refers; we are not
able to provide responses at this stage, as to do so could be prejudicial
to the outcome of that investigation. Once the investigation is complete,
the information considered will be placed in the public domain.

 

We believe that this request is now complete and shall be closed
immediately. Should any further information be requested regarding this
topic, a separate request will need to be submitted.

 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Powys County Council.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Compliance Team

 

 

The supply of documents under Freedom of Information does not give the
person or organisation who receives them an automatic right to re-use the
documents in a way that would infringe copyright.

 

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including
for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for
the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public
will require the permission of the copyright owner.

 

The copyright of most of the information that we provide in response to
Freedom of Information Act requests will be owned by Powys County Council.
The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or
organisation, as indicated in the information itself.

 

For HMSO Guidance Notes on a range of copyright issues, see the Office of
Public Sector Information(OPSI) website.

[2]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...

 

If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received in relation to
your request and wish to make a complaint, please contact Information
Compliance. Our complaints procedure is available on request or on our
website.

 

If you are still not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to
the Information Commissioner, who is the statutory regulator. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office

2nd floor

Churchill House

Churchill way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

Tel: 029 2067 8400

Email: [3][email address]

[4]www.ico.org.uk

 

 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Powys County Council request email]
2. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/crown-copy...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.ico.org.uk/

Dear Powys County Council,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Powys County Council's handling of my FOI request 'Moelfre City Byway - PCC Signage (Part 2)'.

Parts of this PCC response are unacceptable .

Questions 3a, 3b and 3c can only have a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ response when individual serving officers or legal advisors are asked those questions. ‘The information requested is not held’ is inappropriate to the questions. There is no ambiguity that could permit such an answer.

Moelfre City Byway access has been a seriously contentious issue between PCC and users for well over 10 years so no PCC officer or legal representative could possibly ‘not recall’ the gist of their verbal or written actions on the matter unless unfit for work due to clinical amnesia.

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

Yours faithfully,

A. WALKER

Information Compliance (CSP - Generic), Powys County Council

Dear A. Walker

We acknowledge receipt of your complaint regarding the Information relating to " Moelfre City Byway". We regret that you have expressed dissatisfaction in the service provided by Powys County Council in respect of your recent request for information. Your complaint will be referred to the most appropriate individual for review, in accordance with the Council’s Freedom of Information Complaints Policy.

Powys County Council attempts to respond to requests for a review within 20 working days, however, this is not possible in all cases. We will endeavour to respond by 16/08/18.

Information Compliance Team

show quoted sections

Information Compliance (CSP - Generic), Powys County Council

1 Attachment

Dear A Walker

Please find attached the response to your request for an internal review into F2018-0684 Moelfre City Byway. We apologise for the delay in providing this response.

Regards

Information Compliance Team

show quoted sections