Documentation relating to Tullochgorm layby area: EIR release

Information requested

With regard to the Tullochgorm 'layby' area, "a copy of the report submitted to you on 4.11.20" and "sight of the documentation relating to the alleged ownership transfer to the Forestry Commission."

Response

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.

Please see Annex A to this response for a copy of the report requested above.

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 Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. 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.

Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), Transport Scotland is not required to provide information which it does not have. We do not have the information you have requested because we do not hold information showing transfer of ownership back to the Forestry Commission.

This exception 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 exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about land ownership, clearly we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

However, please see Annex B to this response for a copy of a plan we have received from Forestry and Land Scotland. Their records, which are caveated with the need to confirm, indicate that they actually own the land under the live A83 as well as that under the old alignment.

Please note that further land and property information can be found at Registers of Scotland website at Search land and property information - Registers of Scotland (ros.gov.uk).

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI - 202100228488 - Information Released - Annex A

File type

2 page PDF

File size

112.1 kB

FOI - 202100228488 - Information Released - Annex B

File type

1 page PDF

File size

390.8 kB