Wellingborough Borough Council

The complainant has requested copies of correspondence the Borough Council of Wellingborough (‘the Council’) may have had with various parties concerning Sywell Aerodrome Ltd. The Council considers that the request is vexatious under section 14(1) of the FOIA. So far as it is relevant, the Council also considers that the request is manifestly unreasonable under regulation 12(4)(b) of the Environmental Information Regulations and that the public interest favours maintaining the exception. The Council says that if the request was not vexatious or manifestly unreasonable, it would not be obliged to comply with the majority of the elements of the request under the provision at section 12 of the FOIA (cost exceeds the appropriate limit) and regulation 12(4)(b). It says that information requested in one part of the request would be exempt under section 42/regulation 12(5)(b) (legal professional privilege), with the public interest favouring maintaining this exemption. The Commissioner finds that the Council has breached section 10(1) of the FOIA, and regulation 5(2) of the EIR, as it did not respond to the request within 20 working days. The Commissioner has decided that the request is vexatious and that the Council has correctly applied section 14(1) to some of the information and regulation 12(4)(b) to the environmental information. He does not require the Council to take any steps.