Northumberland County Council

The complainant has made a request to Northumberland County Council (“the Council”) for noise nuisance information regarding a specific festival. The Commissioner’s decision is: The Council was entitled to rely on regulation 12(4)(b) when refusing to supply the requested information. The Council failed to comply with its duty under regulation 9(1) to offer advice and assistance to the complainant. The Council breached regulation 11 (reconsideration) of the EIR by failing to provide the complainant with the outcome of its internal review within 40 working days. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation. Provide the complainant with advice and assistance to help them to submit a request that does not create a manifestly unreasonable burden. The Council must take this step within 30 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.