Ashford Borough Council

The complainant requested information concerning plans to redevelop a church in Ashford. Ashford Borough Council (“the council”) said that it did not hold two of the requested documents and it refused to provide the information that it did hold on the basis that it could be withheld using the exceptions under regulations 12(5)(e) and 12(5)(f) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (“the EIR”). When the Information Commissioner (“the Commissioner”) contacted the council, it agreed to disclose all of the information that it originally withheld because of the passage of time. As the complainant was not willing to accept that the remaining information he requested was not held, the Commissioner investigated this point. He was satisfied that the council did not hold this information on the balance of probabilities. The Commissioner found a breach of regulation 14(2) in this case.