Plans to build on Bannockburn battlefield documentation: EIR release

Information requested

All documentation held by the Scottish Government, including correspondence sent/received (including internal), minutes/notes from meetings, briefings about plans to build on Bannockburn battlefield, between July 1 2024 and the date of this FOI (3 December 2024). You also confirmed on 12 December 2024 that you did not want the 500+ letters the Scottish Ministers received from a National Trust for Scotland campaign asking its members to call in the planning application for a trotting track within the Bannockburn Battlefield to be included within the scope of your EIR; but if possible if it could only include correspondence from groups/organisations.

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.

Response to your request

Most of the information you have requested is available at the below links from the Scottish Government, Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) website for the planning applications for the golf driving range and trotting track within Bannockburn Battlefield and I have attached separately what is not available online.

https://www.dpea.scotland.gov.uk/CaseDetails.aspx?ID=124919
https://www.dpea.scotland.gov.uk/CaseDetails.aspx?ID=125296

As some of the information of your request is available online. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copies.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exceptions under regulation(s) 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) and regulation 10(4)(e) (internal communications) of the EIRs applies to that information. The reasons why these exceptions apply are explained below.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some 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.

In this instance we are also unable to provide some of the information you have requested because exceptions under regulation 10(4)(e) (internal communications) of the EIRs apply to that information. The reason why that exception applies is that we believe disclosure of this information would impede officials to have free and frank discussions in order to provide advice to Ministers.

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, however, this is outweighed by the public interest in being able to debate hypothetical or potentially controversial issues without concern about disclosure. We believe that there is also public interest in being able to protect high quality decision making and release of this information may hinder or prevent officials or Ministers from reaching fully considered conclusions.

I have provided the letters for groups/organisations Ministers received and have also provided the response that was issued to those who wrote to Ministers.

About FOI

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

EIR 202400443404 - Information Released - Annex

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