EIR/202600506154 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Kintore-Tealing 400kV OHL Connection objections: EIR release
Information requested
“Please can you tell me the number of objections received by the Scottish Government's ECU unit relating to proposals for the Kintore-Tealing 400kV OHL Connection. Please can this be broken down by individual objections and organisation objections. Please can you also advise me when a determination on the plans is expected to be made?”
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.
1. The confirmed total number of objection representations received and processed is 10,430.
2. 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 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.
The information you have requested is available on the Energy Consents Portal, which publishes all documents associated with applications submitted to the Energy Consents Unit. You can access the portal at:
Scottish Government - Energy Consents Unit - Application Details. You can view all submitted representations by selecting the ‘Representations’ tab. These can then be exported to various file formats to allow for additional analysis. This 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, as the information is already publicly available.
3. The application has been referred to the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA) for a Public Local Inquiry (“PLI”). Once the PLI process is complete, the case will be submitted to Scottish Ministers for their consideration. Further information is publicly accessible from the DPEA’s online portal (Scottish Government - DPEA - Case Details). Please note it is not always possible to provide an update on determination timescales of applications, as these vary due to the type and complexity of each application.
Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. 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.
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.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
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. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have.
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