Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC)

The complainant has requested various information. The above public authority refused the request as vexatious (section 14(1) of FOIA) and, to the extent it sought environmental information, manifestly unreasonable (regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR). The Commissioner’s decision is that the request was not vexatious nor manifestly unreasonable. Therefore to the extent that the request sought environmental information, the public authority was not entitled to rely on regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIR. To the extent that the request sought non-environmental information, it was not vexatious and the public authority was not entitled to rely on section 14(1) of FOIA to refuse it. The public authority also breached regulation 11 of the EIR because its internal review was not completed within 40 working days. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Issue a fresh response, to those parts of the request falling under FOIA, that does not rely on section 14(1) of FOIA. Issue a fresh response, to those parts of the request falling under the EIR, that does not rely on or regulation 12(4)(b) – unless the public authority wishes to rely on a claim that the burden of identifying and compiling the environmental information requested would, in itself, be manifestly unreasonable.