Sellar Property Group development

The request was successful.

Dear Southwark Borough Council,

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I seek the following information about the Sellar Property Group's meeting of the 35% requirement for affordable housing under Section 106:

Details of the units which Sellar Property Group plan to provide as affordable housing, as they are required to do under the terms of their development of The Shard, The Place and One Swan Lane. I would also like the data concerning their planned development of Fielden House, if available.

I request data showing the quantity of these properties and their location. I would also like to know the number of bedrooms, square footage and price or estimated rent of said properties.

I would prefer to receive this information electronically, preferably as a data set, eg. in Excel, NOT as a PDF. If one part of this request can be answered sooner than others, please send that information first followed by any subsequent data.

If the decision is made to withhold some of this data using exemptions in the Data Protection Act, please inform me of that fact and cite the exemptions used.

If you need any clarification of this request please feel free to email me. Under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance I would expect you to contact me if you find this request unmanageable in any way before the 20th working day.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours faithfully,

Imogen Beecroft

Planning, Southwark Borough Council

Southwark Council - Information request

Our reference: 344141

show quoted sections

Wannop, Laura, Southwark Borough Council

Dear Imogen Beecroft,

Re: Your request for information: 344141

Thank you for your request for information that was received on 19
November 2013 in which you requested:

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I seek the following information
about the Sellar Property Group's meeting of the 35% requirement for
affordable housing under Section 106:

Details of the units which Sellar Property Group plan to provide as
affordable housing, as they are required to do under the terms of their
development of The Shard, The Place and One Swan Lane. I would also like
the data concerning their planned development of Fielden House, if
available.

I request data showing the quantity of these properties and their
location. I would also like to know the number of bedrooms, square footage
and price or estimated rent of said properties.

I would prefer to receive this information electronically, preferably as a
data set, eg. in Excel, NOT as a PDF. If one part of this request can be
answered sooner than others, please send that information first followed
by any subsequent data.

If the decision is made to withhold some of this data using exemptions in
the Data Protection Act, please inform me of that fact and cite the
exemptions used.

If you need any clarification of this request please feel free to email
me. Under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance I would
expect you to contact me if you find this request unmanageable in any way
before the 20th working day.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received
this request, and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Please note that following further consideration, your request has been
dealt with under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and not
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as stated in our acknowledgement. 

In response to your request, I am able to provide the following
information.

The Shard: I can confirm the Shard has only 14 residential units (which is
below the policy threshold, at that time, of 15 residential units). 
However, the council was able to secure £1.5m in affordable housing
contribution.  Further details regarding the development can be found in
the committee reports and planning application documents available online
at: 
[1]http://www.southwark.gov.uk/site/scripts...

Application reference: 01/AP/0476

The Place: Please note the Place is an office development without any
residential. However, the council secured £0.5m in affordable housing
contribution in accordance with the mixed use policy in effect at that
time.  Again, details of this development can be found in the committee
reports and planning application documents available online at: 
[2]http://www.southwark.gov.uk/site/scripts...

Application reference: 06/AP/0077

One Swan Lane: Please note this development falls within the City of
London and not Southwark Council. No information is held.

Fielden House:  The council is able to confirm that pre-application
planning advice has been sought in relation to Fielden House.  However
following careful consideration, the council regrets to inform you that
the information you requested is being withheld as it falls under the
exceptions 12 (4) (d) and 12 (5) (e) of the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 which relates to information in the course of completion
and also information of a commercially sensitive nature, where release of
such information may be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of
the council and / or a third party.

In arriving at this view, the council has considered the following factors
both for and against the release of information.

Factors in favour of release:

* Regulation 5 of the Environmental Information Regulations states where
a public authority holds environmental information; it shall make it
available on request and, as a starting point, the council is required
to apply a presumption in favour of disclosure.
* The council has a duty to ensure that planning information is
available to the public to ensure the planning process is open and
transparent

Factors in favour of withholding:

* The fact that no formal planning application has been received as yet
in relation to this address
* The fact that pre-application advice is provided in advance of a
formal planning application being submitted and once the application
is submitted, information becomes publically available on the
council’s website in line with planning legislation
* The fact that the council has a current process in place of charging
for pre-application advice and this legislation is not able to bypass
the agreed council process
* The fact that the council applies confidentiality to all
pre-application discussions (the council notes that confidentiality is
not absolute under the Regulations) and that this information would
not ordinarily be released
* The fact that although pre-application advice contains general policy
advice, it also contains site specific advice where the enquirer is
seeking comment on a specific proposed development  which could  in
turn inform their bid for a site
* The fact that when releasing information under the legislation it is
considered releasing information to the public as a whole and all
parties have the right to negotiate for the best economic outcome of
this or any development free from external prejudice and potential
competitive scrutiny
* The fact that some of these negotiations are ongoing
* The fact that pre-application discussions are not a formal requirement
and are entered in to voluntarily by the third party
* The fact that all information is only held by the council due to
voluntary submission by the third party
* The fact that officers of the council and the third party have the
right to free and frank discussions
* The fact that should this information be released, any future
discussions between the council and the third party may be prejudiced
* The fact that this will set a precedent for the provision of
pre-application advice, which if released  could   prejudice this
development, as well as being likely to prejudice the council’s
ability to negotiate the best outcome in relation to any future
developments within the borough 

It is the council’s assertion that the factors in favour of withholding
the commercial information outweigh the factors in favour of release and
therefore, in accordance with Regulation 14 of the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.

You are free to use the information provided for your own purposes,
including any   non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes
of news reporting.   Any other re-use, for example commercial publication,
requires the permission of the copyright holder. 

You may apply for permission to re-use this information by submitting a
request to [3][Southwark Borough Council request email]; you can find details on these
arrangements at [4]http://www.southwark.gov.uk/YourCouncil/...
Detailed advice about the Reuse of Public Sector Information Regulations
(PSI) 2005 is available from the Office of Public Sector Information at:
[5]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/index.htm.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make an appeal for a review of our decision, please
write to the:

Corporate Freedom of Information officer
The Governance team (2^nd Floor)
PO Box 64529 London.  SE1 5LXP
Email: [6][Southwark Borough Council request email]

If you are not content with the outcome your appeal, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first
exhausted our internal appeal procedure and you should contact him within
2 months of the outcome of your internal appeal.

Further information on the Environmental Information Regulations is
available through the Information Commissioner at the:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire.  SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Internet: [7]www.ico.org.uk

Kind regards,
Laura Wannop

Departmental coordinator
Chief executive's department
5th floor, hub 4
PO Box 64529, London SE1P 5LX
160 Tooley Street, London SE1 2QH

[8]www.southwark.gov.uk/regeneration

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References

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