Grewelthorpe Parish Council

The complainant submitted an information request to Grewelthorpe Parish Council (the council) for correspondence in relation to a highway issue.
The council cited section 14(1) (vexatious) of FOIA to refuse the request. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council should have considered the request under the EIR. The Commissioner finds that the councils was entitled to apply the equivalent exception, under the EIR, regulation 12(4)(b) (manifestly unreasonable) to the request, and that the public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The Commissioner also finds that the council breached regulation 14(1) of the EIR as it failed to issue an appropriate refusal notice confirming the exception, it ultimately it came to rely upon, within 20 working days.
The Commissioner does not require further steps as a result of this decision notice.