Flooding complaints on M9 April 2017-April 2018:FOI Release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
FOI reference: FOI/18/01288
Date received: 3 May 2018
Date responded: 4 June 2018
Information requested
M9 - Northbound - between J2 & J3
Could you please provide me with all information regarding complaints of flooding from April 2017 to April 2018 and also can you clarify if anything has been done to rectify the area?
As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.
Response
There have been no reports of flooding at this location between April 2017 and April 2018. In this case, the term 'flooding' would be considered an event whereby the road drainage system was unable to cope with the volume of water flowing into it.
I can confirm however that regular inspection of the trunk road network has identified some surface water drainage issues on this section of the M9 (northbound between junction 2 and 3), whereby the water on the road surface is not discharging efficiently into the existing road drainage system. This has been investigated and a report has been produced with recommendations for improvements to be undertaken (please see attached Annex A). I can confirm that scheme is in the design stage with works currently scheduled to be completed by the end of this financial year, subject to available funding.
Please also refer to Annex B which is the cyclic maintenance to the drainage system in this area during the defined period.
Reasons for not providing information
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.
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