A78/A738 Montfode roundabout consultation: EIR release

Information requested

Recently Amey has undertaken relandscaping of the Montfode roundabout at the junction of the A78 and A738 (Eglinton Road). I wrote to Amey which undertook this work and have been advised to submit a FoI request.

My interest in this project relates to the public consultation that was undertaken prior to work commencing and also for some figures for the total costs, and who designed the work, who installed it, and what was the fee for the designer?

My questions are:

1. How extensive was the postcode area for the consultation?
2. How many different designs were presented to the residents?
3. How much did the whole project cost?
4. And what was paid to the person who designed the chosen design of stones and wood?

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

I have kept your numbering for ease of reference.

1. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Transport Scotland does not have the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. This is because no consultation was carried out as this was a routine maintenance scheme to improve Montfode Roundabout. Amey did however liaise with a local resident who enquired about the original condition of the roundabout before the improvements were made.
2. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Transport Scotland does not have the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. This is because no designs were presented to residents.
3. The total cost of the project was £58,816.04.
4. No payment was made to the designer, as this person was an Amey employee, carrying out this work in accordance with their contract.

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.