Update of Correspondence and pre-application advice provided in respect of the Royal Oak, Crawley Down

The request was successful.

Dear Mid Sussex District Council,
On 18 Sept 2018 I submitted an FOIA request to MSDC:
“Correspondence and pre-application advice provided in respect of the Royal Oak, Crawley Down”

This followed a presentation to Worth Parish Council (17/9/18) by property developers WYG in respect of a proposed planning application for the Royal Oak. I wrote to request that all communications , including correspondence, pre-application advice, notes and telephone conversations between the council and the property developers/owner/agent from December 2017 to that date be fully disclosed. MSDC responded with the requested documentation on 4th October.

That proposed application followed previous pre-application advice DM/17/5131 and was believed to be referenced DM/18/2833 (July 2018).

Following the September 2018 presentation the developers, architect and owner representative held a meeting with the Save the Royal Oak Pub Team to present and discuss their latest plans. Notes of the meeting were copied to both Worth Parish Council and MSDC.

Since that time the developers have presented revised plans to Worth Parish Council, but have yet to contact the Save the Royal Oak Pub Team.

The developers have indicated their desire to submit a formal planning application in March/April of this year. I am therefore requesting that MSDC fully disclose all further communications, including correspondence, pre-application advice, notes and telephone conversations between the council and the property developers/owner/agent from September 2018 to date.

As the agents have provided their summary of pre-application advice during all presentations and public meetings, there should not be a problem in releasing the detailed documentation, necessary in order to evaluate accuracy of summary and compliance or otherwise with that advice.

Yours faithfully,

A.M. Brooks

Freedom of Information, Mid Sussex District Council

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Freedom of Information, Mid Sussex District Council

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Dear Mr Brooks,

Thank you for your request. Please find our response below.

Whenever the Council receives a request for pre-application advice, we have to consult with the person who paid for the advice to see if they are happy to release it. Once we have their decision the Council then takes a view on whether or not to release taking into account the representations of the person who paid for the advice. In this particular case the owner of the pre-app advice has decided they are happy to release the information, so there are no representations for the Council to consider.

Please find enclosed copies of the information regarding pre-application advice for DM/18/2834. Please note, pre-application advice does not form part of the process for considering the application once received. As with all pre-application advice the following statement applies – “The views expressed in this letter/advice are at officer level only and do not prejudice the Council from making whatever decision it considers appropriate on any application subsequently submitted.” Once an application has been received members of the public can make comments or objections relating to the application.

If for whatever reason you are unhappy with our response you are entitled to pursue any dissatisfaction, in the first instance, by contacting Tom Clark, Solicitor to the Council, Mid Sussex District Council, Oaklands, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1SS, email: [email address], quoting your Reference Number.
 
If you still remain dissatisfied with the response you can complain to the Information Commissioner - details available at: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.
 
Information provided under the FOI Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 may be not be re-used, except for personal study and non-commercial research or for news reporting and reviews, without the permission of the Council. Please see the Council website https://www.midsussex.gov.uk/about-us/op..., for further information or contact the FOI Team on 01444 477422.
 
yours sincerely,

FOI/DPA Team
----------------------------------------------------------------
Digital and Customer Services
01444 477422
[Mid Sussex District Council request email]
http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/my-council/f...
 
Working together for a better Mid Sussex

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Dear Freedom of Information,
Many thanks for the response. However, I note that the formal reply does not include the actual pre-app advice provided by MSDC, only the request, supporting plans and accompanying email chain.

That may be because it had not been issued by 13th March (date of MSDC response). If so, please advise and I will submit a separate application in a week or so. If available now, I would appreciate supply of the appropriate documents under this FOIA request.

Yours sincerely,

A.M.Brooks

Freedom of Information, Mid Sussex District Council

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Thank you for your email. This is an automated response to let you know
your email has arrived. The FOI/DPA Team may not be able to view your
email immediately (for example if you send your request late
afternoon/evening or on a weekend, it will not be read until the following
working day) and your request will be logged as received when it is first
opened and read by us. If the email contains a request for information,
the 20 working day countdown will start on the first working day after
receipt of this request.

 

The request may be subject to an exemption, which the Authority is
entitled to apply to refuse the request. We will notify you if this is the
case.

 

Once the information has been identified the Authority may also ask that a
fee be paid for processing and delivering the information to you. Details
of any fee to be charged will be notified to you as soon as possible.

 

Any future correspondence you may have in relation to this matter should
be sent to the Senior Information Governance Officer, Mid Sussex District
Council, Oaklands, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1SS or
by return to this email.

 

Information provided under the FOI Act 2000 or the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 may be not be re-used, except for personal
study and non-commercial research or for news reporting and reviews,
without the permission of the Council. Please see the Council website
[1]http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/my-council/f... for
further information or contact The Digital and Customer Services Team on
01444 477422.

 

 

The information contained in this email may be subject to public
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the
information contained in this email is legally exempt from disclosure, we
cannot guarantee that we will not provide the whole or part of this email
to a third party making a request for information about the subject matter
of this email.

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information and is
intended only to be seen and used by the named addressees. If you are not
the named addressee, any use, disclosure, copying, alteration or
forwarding of this email and its attachments is unauthorised. If you have
received this email in error please notify the sender immediately by email
or by calling +44 (0) 1444 458 166 and remove this email and its
attachments from your system.

The views expressed within this email and any attachments are not
necessarily the views or policies of Mid Sussex District Council. We have
taken precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting software viruses,
but we advise you to carry out your own virus checks before accessing this
email and any attachments. Except where required by law, we shall not be
responsible for any damage, loss or liability of any kind suffered in
connection with this email and any attachments, or which may result from
reliance on the contents of this email and any attachments.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/my-council/f...

Freedom of Information, Mid Sussex District Council

Dear Mr Brooks,

A reply had not been issued at the time of your request. We will log this as a new request and get back to you as soon as is possible and in any case within the 20 working day statutory deadline.

yours sincerely,

FOI/DPA Team
Digital and Customer Services
01444 477422
[Mid Sussex District Council request email]
http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/my-council/f...
Working together for a better Mid Sussex

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Dear Freedom of Information,

Many thanks for taking this new request onboard

Yours sincerely,

A.M.Brooks

Freedom of Information, Mid Sussex District Council

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Thank you for your email. This is an automated response to let you know
your email has arrived. The FOI/DPA Team may not be able to view your
email immediately (for example if you send your request late
afternoon/evening or on a weekend, it will not be read until the following
working day) and your request will be logged as received when it is first
opened and read by us. If the email contains a request for information,
the 20 working day countdown will start on the first working day after
receipt of this request.

 

The request may be subject to an exemption, which the Authority is
entitled to apply to refuse the request. We will notify you if this is the
case.

 

Once the information has been identified the Authority may also ask that a
fee be paid for processing and delivering the information to you. Details
of any fee to be charged will be notified to you as soon as possible.

 

Any future correspondence you may have in relation to this matter should
be sent to the Senior Information Governance Officer, Mid Sussex District
Council, Oaklands, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1SS or
by return to this email.

 

Information provided under the FOI Act 2000 or the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 may be not be re-used, except for personal
study and non-commercial research or for news reporting and reviews,
without the permission of the Council. Please see the Council website
[1]http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/my-council/f... for
further information or contact The Digital and Customer Services Team on
01444 477422.

 

 

The information contained in this email may be subject to public
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the
information contained in this email is legally exempt from disclosure, we
cannot guarantee that we will not provide the whole or part of this email
to a third party making a request for information about the subject matter
of this email.

This email and any attachments may contain confidential information and is
intended only to be seen and used by the named addressees. If you are not
the named addressee, any use, disclosure, copying, alteration or
forwarding of this email and its attachments is unauthorised. If you have
received this email in error please notify the sender immediately by email
or by calling +44 (0) 1444 458 166 and remove this email and its
attachments from your system.

The views expressed within this email and any attachments are not
necessarily the views or policies of Mid Sussex District Council. We have
taken precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting software viruses,
but we advise you to carry out your own virus checks before accessing this
email and any attachments. Except where required by law, we shall not be
responsible for any damage, loss or liability of any kind suffered in
connection with this email and any attachments, or which may result from
reliance on the contents of this email and any attachments.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/my-council/f...

Freedom of Information, Mid Sussex District Council

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Dear Mr Brooks,

Thank you for your request. Please note, information to be included under an FOI request is only valid up to the date of receipt of a request, not the date a response is sent. The attached information was not sent with your last response as this was issued after the 21/02/19, which is when the council logged your previous request.

Please find a copy of the advice attached.

If for whatever reason you are unhappy with our response you are entitled to pursue any dissatisfaction, in the first instance, by contacting Tom Clark, Solicitor to the Council, Mid Sussex District Council, Oaklands, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1SS, email: [email address], quoting your Reference Number.
 
If you still remain dissatisfied with the response you can complain to the Information Commissioner - details available at: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.
 
Information provided under the FOI Act 2000 or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 may be not be re-used, except for personal study and non-commercial research or for news reporting and reviews, without the permission of the Council. Please see the Council website https://www.midsussex.gov.uk/about-us/op..., for further information or contact the FOI Team on 01444 477422.
 
yours sincerely,

FOI/DPA Team
----------------------------------------------------------------
Digital and Customer Services
01444 477422
[Mid Sussex District Council request email]
http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/my-council/f...
 
Working together for a better Mid Sussex

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