Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

The complainant requested agendas and minutes of the Planning Policy Working Group working on the Draft Local Plan. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (the Council) confirmed it held information with the scope of the request but refused to provide it, citing regulations 12(4)(d) (information in the course of completion), 12(4)(e) (internal communications) and 12(5)(d) (confidentiality of proceedings) of the EIR. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Council was entitled to apply regulation 12(4)(d) to the withheld information and that the public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken as a result of this decision.