FOI/202600504911 · FOI/EIR · partially withheld
Information relating to the A830 near Glenfinnan: EIR release
Information requested
We are making a request under the above Act for information relating to the A830 near Glenfinnan. In particular, we require the following information:-
Records of tree and vegetation inspections carried out on the A830 near Glenfinnan in the 24 months prior to 22 January 2025. Records of any tree and vegetation works carried out on the A830 near Glenfinnan since 22 January 2025 to date Details of any maintenance, pruning, or removal works undertaken on roadside trees on the A830 near Glenfinnan in the 24 months prior to 22 January 2025 Copies of any risk assessments or hazard reports relating to roadside vegetation or trees along the A830 near Glenfinnan. Any complaints, incident reports, or correspondence received regarding fallen trees or vegetation hazards on the A830 in the last 3 years. BEAR Scotland policy or guidance documents on roadside tree maintenance and vegetation management. Confirmation of whether the land adjacent to the A830 road is owned or maintained by BEAR Scotland, or if responsibility lies with a third party.
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.
Q1. You requested records of tree and vegetation inspections carried out on the A830 near Glenfinnan in the 24 months prior to 22 January 2025.
A1. BEAR Scotland, who manage and maintain this section of the Trunk Road Network advise that their Inspection Team carry out weekly drive by safety inspections and annual detailed inspections. Please see Annex A to this response for details of these inspections.
Q2. You requested records of any tree and vegetation works carried out on the A830 near Glenfinnan since 22 January 2025 to date.
A2. Please see Annex B to this response for details of works carried out.
Q3. You requested details of any maintenance, pruning, or removal works undertaken on roadside trees on the A830 near Glenfinnan in the 24 months prior to 22 January 2025.
A3. Please see Annex B to this response for details of works carried out.
Q4. You requested copies of any risk assessments or hazard reports relating to roadside vegetation or trees along the A830 near Glenfinnan.
A4. Vegetation is not managed by a risk assessment and no Hazard Notices were raised on the A830 near Glenfinnan relating to roadside vegetation/trees for the period in question.
Q5. You requested details of any complaints, incident reports, or correspondence received regarding fallen trees or vegetation hazards on the A830 in the last 3 years.
A5. BEAR Scotland advise they received three enquiries regarding overhanging branches in the past three years. September 2023, November 2024 and January 2025. Please see Annexes C 1-3 for details of these enquiries and Annex C 4 for BEAR’s incident call log for this period.
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.
Q6. You requested BEAR Scotland policy or guidance documents on roadside tree maintenance and vegetation management.
A6. Please see Binder 1 to this response containing copies of Risk Assessments.
Annexes G and H provide copies of the Landscape Development Process , the Landscape Development Plan and Tree Management Plan. Inspection procedures can be found in Annexes I and J and Annex K provides a copy of The Trunk Road Inspection Manual (TRIM). This provides guidance and instruction to inspection teams on how to carry out routine and detailed safety inspections and how to record and classify defects on the trunk road network, including motorways and major A-roads.
An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested with Annexes G – K and Binder 1 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.
Q7. You asked for confirmation of whether the land adjacent to the A830 road is owned or maintained by BEAR Scotland, or if responsibility lies with a third party.
A7. BEAR Scotland advise that the extent of landholding within the trunk road boundary is variable. In some location the verge may be 1-2m from the edge of carriageway whereas other locations 10+metres of verge may be present. It is assumed that the boundary is delineated by a wall or fence. Land beyond such a feature is assumed to be third party responsibility.
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.
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. 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.