Pre-app advice provided to Fenland District Council regarding land off Wenny Road and the East Chatteris BCP

The request was partially successful.

Lawrence Weetman

Dear Cambridgeshire County Council,

Please could you provide me with any pre-application planning advice provided to Fenland District Council regarding land off Wenny Road and the East Chatteris BCP?

For the avoidance of doubt, the land is that covered by the diagram on Page 57 of this PDF:
https://www.fenland.gov.uk/localgov/Data...

The approximate location of the site is as follows:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wenny+...

This should at least include:
1. Any site accessibility options/advice considered by the CCC Transport/Highways teams.
2. Any archaeological advice considered/offered by CCC's Historic Environment team.
3. Any ecological advice considered/offered.

Since this request relates to the development of land that is currently undeveloped and, in the view of ecological reports constitutes a site of "county-level importance" for ecology, at least some aspects of this request may need to be considered under the EIR rather than the FOIA.

Yours faithfully,

Lawrence Weetman

Lawrence Weetman

Dear Cambridgeshire County Council,

Please can this request also include, if possible:

- Copies of any communications between the County Council and Fenland District Council and/or Fenland Futures Ltd regarding this site.

Many thanks,

Lawrence Weetman

FOI, Cambridgeshire County Council

Dear Lawrence Weetman
 
Re: Environmental Information Regulations Request - Ref EIR 1813068
 
Thank you for your email. Your request will be dealt with in line with the
Environmental Information Regulations. In accordance with the Act, the
Council aims to respond to all requests within 20 working days, in this
instance by 19/04/2022.
 
Please note, we have combined the following requirements under one
request:
 
1. Any site accessibility options/advice considered by the CCC
Transport/Highways teams.
2. Any archaeological advice considered/offered by CCC's Historic
Environment team.
3. Any ecological advice considered/offered.
4. Copies of any communications between the County Council and Fenland
District Council and/or Fenland Futures Ltd regarding this site.
 
If we require further information, clarification or a fee in order to
fulfil your request we will contact you again. Please quote the reference
number above in all future correspondence concerning this request.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Steve Thompson
Information Management Analyst
 
Information Governance Team
Cambridgeshire County Council
Box No: SCO2306
Scott House
5 George Street
Huntingdon PE29 3AD
 
t: 01223 699137
 
 
 

show quoted sections

FOI, Cambridgeshire County Council

Dear Lawrence Weetman
 
Re: Environmental Information Regulations Request – Ref 1813068
 
Further to our email dated 18/03/2022 (included below), the Information
Governance Team would like to update you on the progress of your
Environmental Information Regulations Request.
 
Our initial deadline to you is 19/04/2022. However, due to additional
requirements to assess all collated information for suitability of
disclosure and to carry out subsequent redactions, we have been unable to
finish the full response in time to meet this deadline.
 
We would like to offer our apologies for the delay in supplying you with
this information. Please be assured that your request has not been put on
hold, and we are working to respond to your request as soon as possible.
 
We are finalising a response and hope to have a further update by
06/05/2022
 
Kind Regards
 
Information Governance Team
Tel:  Team 01223 699137
 
Information Governance Team, Box No. SCO2306, Cambridgeshire County
Council, Scott House, 5 George Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3AD
 
 
 
_____________________________________________
From: FOI
Sent: 18 March 2022 14:45
To: 'Lawrence Weetman' <[FOI #845414 email]>
Subject: EIR 1813068 Acknowledgement
 
 
Dear Lawrence Weetman
 
Re: Environmental Information Regulations Request - Ref EIR 1813068
 
Thank you for your email. Your request will be dealt with in line with the
Environmental Information Regulations. In accordance with the Act, the
Council aims to respond to all requests within 20 working days, in this
instance by 19/04/2022.
 
Please note, we have combined the following requirements under one
request:
 
1. Any site accessibility options/advice considered by the CCC
Transport/Highways teams.
2. Any archaeological advice considered/offered by CCC's Historic
Environment team.
3. Any ecological advice considered/offered.
4. Copies of any communications between the County Council and Fenland
District Council and/or Fenland Futures Ltd regarding this site.
 
If we require further information, clarification or a fee in order to
fulfil your request we will contact you again. Please quote the reference
number above in all future correspondence concerning this request.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Steve Thompson
Information Management Analyst
 
Information Governance Team
Cambridgeshire County Council
Box No: SCO2306
Scott House
5 George Street
Huntingdon PE29 3AD
 
t: 01223 699137
 
 
 

show quoted sections

FOI, Cambridgeshire County Council

1 Attachment

Dear Lawrence Weetman

 

Environmental Information Regulations request response – Ref 1813068

 

Cambridgeshire County Council has now considered your request under the
Environmental Information Regulations.  We can confirm that we do hold the
information requested by you. Please find our response as set out below. 

 

Request

 

Please could you provide me with any pre-application planning advice
provided to Fenland District Council regarding land off Wenny Road and the
East Chatteris BCP?

 

For the avoidance of doubt, the land is that covered by the diagram on
Page 57 of this PDF:

[1]https://www.fenland.gov.uk/localgov/Data...

 

The approximate location of the site is as follows:

[2]https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wenny+...

 

This should at least include:

1. Any site accessibility options/advice considered by the CCC
Transport/Highways teams.

2. Any archaeological advice considered/offered by CCC's Historic
Environment team.

3. Any ecological advice considered/offered.

 

Since this request relates to the development of land that is currently
undeveloped and, in the view of ecological reports constitutes a site of
"county-level importance" for ecology, at least some aspects of this
request may need to be considered under the EIR rather than the FOIA.

 

 

Our response

 

Please find attached.

 

Please note – where information within the scope of the request is already
publicly available we have provided the following links. The Oxford
Archaeology report referred to is publicly available here: [3]<enter title
using properties under 'file'> (oxfordarchaeology.com)

The Fenland Local Plan referred to is publicly available here: [4]Fenland
Local Plan - Adopted Web The East Chatteris Broad Concept Plan referred to
is publicly available here: [5]1 (fenland.gov.uk)

 

 

Please note, some personal information such as the names and details of
individuals has been redacted in line with Regulation 13 (1) personal data
which states:

 

13.—(1) To the extent that the information requested includes personal
data of which the applicant is not the data subject and as respects which
either the first or second condition below is satisfied, a public
authority shall not disclose the personal data.

 

13(2A) The first condition is that the disclosure of the information to a
member of the public otherwise than under these Regulations—

 

(a)          would contravene any of the data protection principles

 

First it is necessary to establish if the information withheld constitutes
personal data. Personal data and information relating to an identifiable
living individual is defined in Part 1, Section 3 of the Data Protection
Act 2018 as:

 

(2)“Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or
identifiable living individual (subject to subsection (14)(c)).

 

(3)“Identifiable living individual” means a living individual who can be
identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to—

 

(a)an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data
or an online identifier, or

 

(b)one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic,
mental, economic, cultural or social identity of the individual.

 

Having decided the data withheld constitutes personal data of an
individual other than the requestor, we need to consider whether
disclosure of this information would contravene any of the GDPR data
protection principles.

 

The principles relating to processing of personal data at Chapter 2,
Article 5, 1(a) of the General Data Protection Regulations state:

 

“Personal data shall be: (a) processed lawfully, fairly and in a
transparent manner in relation to the data subject (‘lawfulness, fairness
and transparency’).”

 

The data subjects have not consented to this information being disclosed
and therefore any disclosure would not be transparent. This information is
not already in the public domain and the data subjects would have a
reasonable expectation that this information would not be disclosed to the
wider public and therefore any disclosure would not be fair. As the
processing of personal information must be lawful, fair and transparent,
this disclosure would contravene the data protection principle. This is an
absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public
interest.

 

 

Please note, some information is redacted under Regulation 12 (5) (f)
which states:

 

Exceptions to the duty to disclose environmental information

12.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2), (3) and (9), a public authority may
refuse to disclose environmental information requested if—

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), a public authority may refuse to
disclose information to the extent that its disclosure would adversely
affect—

(f)the interests of the person who provided the information where that
person—

(i)was not under, and could not have been put under, any legal obligation
to supply it to that or any other public authority;

(ii)did not supply it in circumstances such that that or any other public
authority is entitled apart from these Regulations to disclose it; and

(iii)has not consented to its disclosure; 

 

The withheld information would adversely affect the interests of the
developers as the purpose of pre-application planning advice is for
developers to be able to get advice on the issues which need to be taken
into consideration before formulating their final plans, to ultimately
save time and money defending objections to plans which may be
substantially amended before any application is submitted or not come to
fruition.

 

The developers were not under any legal obligation to supply the
information, submitted the information with the reasonable expectation
that it would remain confidential and have not consented to the
disclosure.

 

As Regulation 12(5)(f) is a qualified exception, there is a requirement to
conduct a public interest test.

 

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure:

 

Regulation 12(2) specifically provides that public authorities should
apply a presumption in favour of disclosure.

 

We acknowledge that there is a public interest in transparency and
openness regarding the pre-application planning advice. Disclosure would
provide the public with assurances that planning decisions are properly
considered.

 

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information:

 

We consider that there is public interest in developers being able to
discuss initial proposals in a full and frank matter in order that any
potential issues are identified and discussed. Developers are entitled to
‘thinking space’ when scoping initial plans and to have time to consider
any advice and reconsider their proposal, if necessary. We are of the view
that it is reasonable for the developer to expect that this can be done
privately, without public scrutiny.

 

We do not consider there is a public interest in disclosing advice on
plans which may not represent the final proposal. The public have the
ability to comment on, or object to, planning proposals which are made
public on receipt of a valid planning application,

 

It is in the public interest to encourage developer co-operation with
pre-application planning services as this benefits local authorities by
increasing higher quality applications with fewer issues that need to be
addressed, which saves on costs for the planning service and avoids delays
in the processing of applications.

 

While we accept that there may be arguments in favour of disclosing
information relating to this matter, we believe that the public interest
in preserving time, money and resources of the local authority outweigh
the interest in initial proposals preceding a formal planning application.

 

 

 

Complaints

I hope this information is helpful but if you are unhappy with the service
you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint
or request a review, you should write to Information Management, at either
[6][Cambridgeshire County Council request email] or by post at Box No. SCO2306, Scott House, 5
George Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3AD within 40 days of the date of this
e-mail.

 

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, or via their website: [7]https://ico.org.uk/.

 

Generally, the ICO will not undertake a review or make a decision on a
request until the internal review process has been completed.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Governance Team

Cambridgeshire County Council

Box No. SCO2306,

Scott House,

5 George Street,

Huntingdon,

PE29 3AD

 

 

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www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/privacy Visit [8]www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk

References

Visible links
1. https://www.fenland.gov.uk/localgov/Data...
2. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wenny+...
3. https://eprints.oxfordarchaeology.com/31...
4. https://fenland.gov.uk/media/12064/Fenla...
5. https://www.fenland.gov.uk/localgov/Data...
6. mailto:[Cambridgeshire County Council request email]
7. https://ico.org.uk/
8. http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/