Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

The complainant requested various information from Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council (the ‘council’) in respect of the felling of trees in the Spring of 2021 adjacent to a named property. The council provided some information but refused to provide other information on the basis of regulation 12(5)(b) (the course of justice) of the EIR. The council also withheld some limited personal information under regulation 13. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council has complied with its obligations under regulation 5(1) of the EIR, and that it was entitled to rely on regulation 12(5)(b) to refuse information in respect of item 3 of the request and that regulation 13 applies to the limited redactions of personal information. First-tier tribunal (General Regulatory chamber) information rights appeal EA/2023/0387 under appeal.