Tree felling

The request was successful.

John H Hutchinson

Dear Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council,
1. How many tonnes of timber, please, has been felled and removed from Wirral's parks, roadsides and green-spaces since the declaration of a climate emergency by Wirral Borough Council (15 July 2019)?

2. What is the carbon footprint of the transportation of the lumber, etc and its burning at a biomass plant or use as firewood or chippings?

3. How much has WMBC spent in addressing the Climate Crisis and moving towards a carbon-neutral Borough?

Yours faithfully,

John H Hutchinson

InfoMgr, FinDMT, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Mr Hutchinson,

Thank you for your recent request for information.

As a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Council resources are understandably being diverted to areas of greater priority than information rights compliance. We have taken advice from the ICO and whilst your statutory request for information remains unchanged, all information requests will be subject to delays and we ask for your continued patience and understanding in relation to your enquiry.

Yours sincerely,

Chelsea Dalton
Information Management Officer
Wirral Council
Treasury Building
Cleveland Street
Birkenhead
CH41 1AH
Tel: 0151 666 5201
[Wirral Borough Council request email]
visit our website: www.wirral.gov.uk

PLEASE FORWARD ALL FOI RESPONSES TO [Wirral Borough Council request email]

show quoted sections

John H Hutchinson

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,

Thank you!

Yours sincerely,

John H Hutchinson

John H Hutchinson

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,

I shall be grateful if you will inform us as to an expected date for Council's response as we do not want our requests forgotten or for the pandemic to be used as an excuse for non-response.

Yours sincerely,

John H Hutchinson

InfoMgr, FinDMT, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

Good morning Mr Hutchinson,

Thank you for your email. In the subject box, a date of 22/04/2020 was issued. This would have been the standardized date given to allow the legislative 20 working day timeframe to run its course.

Whilst we maintain the current governance in place, we have sought advice from the Information Commissioners office, who are understandably in concurrence with proposed delays due to the fact that all workers are currently working from home, given the enormity of the current pandemic/situation.

Council resources are understandably being diverted to areas of greater priority than information rights compliance. We have taken advice from the ICO and whilst your statutory right of access remains unchanged, all information requests will be subject to delays and we ask for your continued patience and understanding in relation to your enquiry.

Please visit the links below in relation to the latest advise issued:

https://wbcnet.wirral.gov.uk/governance/...
https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-an...

We thank you for your patience and understanding on this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Chelsea Dalton
Information Management Officer
Wirral Council
Treasury Building
Cleveland Street
Birkenhead
CH41 1AH
Tel: 0151 666 5201
[Wirral Borough Council request email]
visit our website: www.wirral.gov.uk

PLEASE FORWARD ALL FOI RESPONSES TO [Wirral Borough Council request email]

show quoted sections

John H Hutchinson

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,

Thank you but you didn't answer my question "expected date for Council's response".

Also,
https://wbcnet.wirral.gov.uk/governance/...

relates to an internal WMBC webpage that cannot be viewed from outside.

The ICO advice is unhelpful because it is contradictory saying that whilst statutory timescales cannot be extended, public authorities will not be penalised for prioritising other areas of work.

It is not possible to have one's cake and to eat it.

Therefore, my request for an expected date of the Council's response to my original request remains valid and open.

Yours sincerely,

John H Hutchinson

InfoMgr, FinDMT, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hutchinson

 

Your request is not due for a response until 22 April 2020.  When we
acknowledged your request we advised you of a possible delay in
responding, due to the difficulties facing the Council as a result of
COVID-19.  As advised in our previous response, we are unable to provide
any definitive timeframe by which your information request will be
actioned. 

 

We will as always endeavour to respond by the due date but given that the
Council's resources are directed into more pressing areas of public
concern at this time, we are advising all requesters of this as a matter
of courtesy.  The COVID-19 pandemic is not, as you suggest, being used as
an excuse for non-response nor to overlook enquiries. All requests will be
answered as quickly as possible but, given the  current pressures on
Council resources and priorities, this may not be possible in every
instance.

 

The ICO guidance clearly states that there is no legislative power for it
to extend the 20 working day timescale.  However it has adapted a sensible
and pragmatic approach, and has confirmed that it will not seek to
penalise authorities who are unable to comply with the response times on
each and every occasion. If you wish to contact the Information
Commissioner’s Office directly for clarity, you may do so at
[1]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

 

Please see the correct link to our webpage and accept my apologies for
this oversight -
[2]https://www.wirral.gov.uk/about-council/...

 

I trust this clarifies matters. As soon as a response to your enquiry is
available, we will of course let you know.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Lynette Paterson

Principal Information Management Officer

Wirral Council

Treasury Building

Cleveland Street

Birkenhead

Wirral

CH41 1AH

 

Tel: 0151 691 8201

Email: [3][Wirral Borough Council request email]

 

Visit our website: [4]www.wirral.gov.uk

 

 

 

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.

References

Visible links
1. https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
2. https://www.wirral.gov.uk/about-council/...
3. mailto:[Wirral Borough Council request email]
4. http://www.wirral.gov.uk/

InfoMgr, FinDMT, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hutchinson

 

Further to your recent request for information, your enquiry has been
dealt with under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. In
response to your questions, Wirral Council can advise as follows:

 

1. How many tonnes of timber, please, has been felled and removed from
Wirral's parks, roadsides and green-spaces since the declaration of a
climate emergency by Wirral Borough Council (15 July 2019)?

 

Wirral Council holds no recorded information in response to this
question.  Under the terms of the Forestry Commission legislation, felled
timber is measured in volume, not weight.  However as the trees removed by
the Council are either dead or dangerous, they are exempt from the
requirement to apply for such a licence so there is no record of volume
felled.

 

2. What is the carbon footprint of the transportation of the lumber, etc
and its burning at a biomass plant or use as firewood or chippings?

 

See above

 

3. How much has WMBC spent in addressing the Climate Crisis and moving
towards a carbon-neutral Borough?

 

The Council declared an environment and climate emergency last year and as
part of this, have developed a Climate Emergency Action Plan which
provides a commitment for the Council, and its entity, to be net carbon
neutral by 2030. In order to achieve this objective the Climate Emergency
Action plan will drive fundamental changes across the Council and the way
services are provided. The Action plan will bring about change to the way
the Council is structured and identify the required level of resources and
funding to deliver the change. An initial starting budget of 250k was
secured and used to fund initial actions and changes.  More  funding will
be allocated to deliver the actions set out over the 10 year journey to
net carbon neutrality by 2030. The Council has been successful in securing
funding from the Urban Tree Challenge Fund and with match funding from the
Council this has created a £600k tree planting programme to be commenced
this autumn/winter.

 

Wirral Council makes a valued contribution as a Member of the Merseyside
Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) Partnership, which
includes the actions taken through the Business Plan:
[1]https://thefloodhub.co.uk/your-local-are.... Whilst this work
covers the wider Merseyside and the Liverpool City Region, Wirral Council
benefits from the outputs and actions delivered in both Wirral and our
wider area.   

 

The FCRM function seeks to improve resilience to the effects of climate
change rather than directly address the issues relating towards becoming a
carbon-neutral borough.

Since the Climate Emergency resolution has passed work has continued on
specific schemes and studies which seek to address flood and coastal risk
management whilst taking into the predicted impacts of climate change.

 

For the following schemes the scheme estimate are:

 

West Kirby Flood Alleviation £5.5m

Wallasey Embankment Reinforcement (no increase in standard of protection)
£2.0m

Coronation Park Flood Relief £220k

 

We trust this information is of interest to you.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Lynette Paterson

Principal Information Management Officer

Wirral Council

Treasury Building

Cleveland Street

Birkenhead

Wirral

CH41 1AH

 

Tel: 0151 691 8201

Email: [2][Wirral Borough Council request email]

 

Visit our website: [3]www.wirral.gov.uk

 

 

 

 

 

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager.

References

Visible links
1. https://thefloodhub.co.uk/your-local-are...
2. mailto:[Wirral Borough Council request email]
3. http://www.wirral.gov.uk/

John H Hutchinson

Dear InfoMgr, FinDMT,

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

John H Hutchinson