IC-374039-B5Z6

The complainant has requested from the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames (the Council) information relating to the transfer of the lease of Pensford Field in Kew, from Pensford Field Environmental Trust (PFET) to Dose of Nature (DoN). The Council provided some information but withheld other information, applying regulation 12(4)(e) - internal communications. The Commissioner’s decision is that regulation 12(4)(e) is engaged, but the public interest in maintaining the exception is not strong enough to overcome the presumption in favour of disclosure at regulation 12(2). He has also found that the Council breached regulation 5(2) of the EIR by responding to the complainant beyond the statutory timeframe for complying with a request. The Commissioner requires the Council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation • Disclose the withheld information, with appropriate redactions for personal data. 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.