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The First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) (Information Rights) has allowed the appeal in the case of Cawthorne v Information Commissioner [2024] UKFTT 00978 (GRC).
The Appellant is a vicar and environmental campaigner who, for many years, has campaigned on issues regarding the management of Stoneyhill, a former landfill site in Shropshire which has long been a source of concern to the local community. The site is managed by Telford and Wrekin Council ("the Council"), which undertakes regular testing for chemicals present in leachate, groundwater and gas surrounding the site.
The appeal concerned a long-running request for publication of the results of the Council's routine chemical testing of the site, which had been requested by the Appellant, other members of the local community and the BBC. The Council refused the Appellant's request under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 ("EIR") for publication of those test results, relying on the exception contained in regulation 12(4)(b) EIR, namely, that the request was "manifestly unreasonable."
The appellant complained to the Information Commissioner, which upheld the Council's reliance on the regulation 12(4)(b) exception, and subsequently appealed the Information Commissioner's decision to the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) (Information Rights). Allowing the appeal, the First-tier Tribunal found that the Council's reasoning for declaring the request to be manifestly unreasonable "had not been substantiated objectively", and underscored the need for the exceptions to the right to environmental information to be interpreted restrictively, so as not to undermine the constitutional status of the EIR and Freedom of Information legal framework.
Considering the "value or serious purpose" of the Request, per Dransfield and ors v Information Commissioner [2015] EWCA Civ 454, the Tribunal held at [71] that "the requests had reasonable foundation":
"The nature of the concerns about the site were the hazards presented to the local community from the landfill site and in discharges into the River Severn. The Tribunal were clear that such information would be of great interest to a number of groups and individuals, not least from nearby residents. The consequences could impact on a large number of people and groups."
The Tribunal's decision is an important reminder to public authorities regarding the evidential burdens they must meet to justify withholding data under the EIR.
The judgment may be accessed here.
Claudia Hyde acted for the appellant, instructed by Goodenough Ring Solicitors.
