Eastleigh Borough Council

The complainant requested information in relation to the proposed site for a particular development referred to in the Eastleigh Borough Council’s (‘the Council’) draft local development plan. The Council stated that the information requested was exempt under regulation 12(4)(e). At the time of its internal review, the Council also sought to rely in regulation 12(4)(d) in relation to the requested information. The Commissioner’s decision is as follows: regulation 12(4)(d) is engaged for some information but the public interest favours disclosure, and regulation 12(4)(e) is engaged for all of the withheld information, but the public interest in disclosure of the information outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exception. For information which engages both exceptions the public interest in disclosure outweighs the aggregated public interest in maintaining both regulation 12(4)(d) and regulation 12(4)(e). The Commissioner requires the public authority to disclose the information withheld under regulations 12(4)(d) and 12(4)(e). Information Tribunal appeal EA/2013/0069 allowed.