Minister for Public Finance correspondence regarding planning Application NA/270/010 (Coul Links): EIR release

Information requested

You asked for "any emails submitted by the Minister for Public Finance (or his office) to the Scottish Government’s eRDM (electronic Record and Document Management) system in connection with the called in Planning Application NA/270/010 (Coul Links) from 1st January 2026 to date."

Response

I enclose a copy of information relevant to your request. This consists of two documents within scope.

Please note the following exceptions apply to the documents:

An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs (internal communication) applies to some of the information requested because the information is internal communications between Scottish Government officials and a Ministerial Private Office on a live planning case that is currently before Ministers for determination.

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. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of an open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, this information relates to a live planning application before Scottish Ministers and there is a greater public interest in high quality decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of decisions.

This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications. Their candour in doing so will be affected by their assessment of whether the preliminary discussions will be disclosed in the near future, when it may undermine or constrain the Government’s view on that issue while it is still under discussion and development.

Also as this is a live planning case which is still under consideration, releasing information which is under active consideration is not disclosed when it might misinform the public or give a misleading impression of the Government’s view or position on the matter to which the information relates.

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.

Other information relating to Planning Application NA/270/010 (Coul Links) is available from the Department of Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) webpage: Scottish Government - DPEA -
Case List.

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EIR 202600508801 - Information Released - Documents

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PDF

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3.1 MB