The complainant submitted an information request to the London Borough of Hillingdon (the council) for the monitoring data and for the remediation plan for New Years Green Landfill.
The council applied regulation 12(4)(a) (information not held) for the monitoring data, and regulation 12(4)(d) (material in the course of completion) of the EIR for the remediation plan.
The Commissioner’s decision is that the council holds the monitoring data and therefore regulation 12(4)(a) is not engaged. He also considers that the council was entitled to rely upon regulation 12(4)(d) of the EIR to withhold the remediation plan, but that the public interest favours disclosure. Furthermore, the Commissioner has found that the council’s handling of the request breached regulations 5(2) (time for compliance) and 14(refusal to disclose information) of the EIR.
The Commissioner requires the council to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation.
•    Disclose the monitoring data or issue a valid refusal notice in line with regulation 14 of the EIR.
•    Disclose the remediation plan.