Hertford Heath Parish Council
- Date 12 November 2024
- Sector Local government
- Decision(s) EIR 11.4: Upheld, EIR 12.4.b: Upheld, EIR 14.1: Upheld, EIR 5.2: Upheld
The complainant submitted an information request to Hertford Heath Parish Council (the council) for correspondence and findings in relation to a site assessment and process.
The Commissioner’s decision is that the council was correct in applying regulation 12(4)(b) (manifestly unreasonable) of the EIR to the request. However, he finds that the public interest in maintaining the exception does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure. He also finds that the council did not comply with the requirements of regulation 5(2) (time for compliance), regulation 14 (refusal to disclose information) and regulation 11(4)(time for review) of the EIR.
The Commissioner requires the council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
• Issue a fresh response to the request that does not rely on regulation 12(4)(b).
• In relation to the Aecom site assessment report, conduct fresh searches to see if any third parties, working on the council’s behalf holds the first draft of the report.
The public authority must take these steps 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.