Oxted Gas Holder

The request was refused by Tandridge District Council.

Dear Tandridge District Council,

I would like to request copies of all correspondence regarding the Oxted Gas Holder to/from other agencies since January 2008.

Yours faithfully,

Mr James.

Paul Newdick, Tandridge District Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr James

Discussions have taken place at officer level with Crest Nicholson (a
housing developer who are in partnership with Scottish Gas Networks the
owners of the gas holder) about prospective development. The last of these
discussions took place in March/April 2008. Crest Nicholson advised that
they regard the discussions as commercially sensitive and that disclosure
of notes of those meetings would prejudice their commercial interest in
developing the site.

These discussions concerned both land ownership and planning issues.
Insofar as they concerned land ownership issues they are covered by the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 and insofar as they concerned planning
issues they are covered by the Environmental Information Regulations 2004
rather than the Act.

The information relating to planning issues is covered by Regulation
12(5)(e), which provides that information is exempt from disclosure if its
disclosure would adversely affect the confidentiality of commercial or
industrial information where such confidentiality is provided by law to
protect a legitimate economic interest, and by Regulation 12(5)(g), which
provides that information is exempt from disclosure if its if disclosure
would adversely affect the protection of the environment to which the
information relates. In this case it is considered that disclosure of the
information would prejudice the redevelopment of the site which would be
detrimental to the environment. Both these exceptions are also subject to
a public interest test.

Having applied the public interest test, the Council has reached the
conclusion that the commercial interest outlined by them and the public
interest in ensuring that redevelopment of this important site is not
prejudiced outweighs the interest of the public in releasing details of
these meetings. I am therefore unable to supply you with details of the
Council's meetings with Crest Nicholson.

I can advise you however that in the current economic climate the
development of the Oxted gas holder site is not a project that Crest
Nicholson is going to move forward in the short term and that any further
dialogue will only take place when there is a significant recovery in the
housing market. Perhaps more importantly, it would be the Council's
intention to ask any prospective developer to arrange a full scale public
consultation exercise about any possible redevelopment proposals before
any planning application was submitted. This would involve consultation
with local groups, householders and businesses. I hope this information is
of assistance to you.

The Council has a complaints procedure. A complaint should be made in
writing to the Council's Freedom of Information Officer, James Hitchcock,
or by e-mail to [1][Tandridge District Council request email] Further
information about the Council's complaints procedure can be found on our
website at [2]www.tandridge.gov.uk

If you are still not satisfied after your complaint has been dealt with,
you have a right to make a further complaint to the Office of the
Information Commissioner at FOI Compliance Team (complaints), Wycliffe
House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Further information may be found on the Information Commissioner's website
at [3]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Paul Newdick

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|[4]Tandridge Logo |
|Tandridge District |
|Council |
|The Council Offices Paul Newdick |
|Station Road East Head of Planning Policy |
|Oxted,Surrey Planning Policy |
|RH8 0BT [6][email address]|
| |
|Tel: 01883 732860 |
|Fax: 01883 722015 |
|[5]www.tandridge.gov.uk |
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