Warwick District Council

The complainant has requested planning information relating to the West Midlands Green Belt dating from 1974. Warwick District Council (the “Council”) initially argued that the information was accessible from its website or by visiting its offices. However, the information available online or in its records was not searchable such that the categories of information requested by the complainant could be readily provided. The Council argued that it would be manifestly unreasonable (regulation 12(4)(b)) on the grounds of cost for it to prepare the information in a report that matched the complainant’s request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council is entitled to rely regulation 12(4)(b) as a basis for refusing the request. No steps are required.