FOI/202500461578 · FOI/EIR · already published
Safety of the A9 trunk road, and development of land on Balhaldie Farm, Dunblane: EIR release
Information requested
Under The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 please provide me with all forms of recorded information in connection with the impact of the proposed development of land 500 metres southwest of Balhaldie Farm, FK15 ONB on A9 road safety, to include safety assessments:
on the proposed new access/egress onto the A9 trunk road, the impact of conflicting farm tracks, u-turning traffic using breaks in the central reserves, the length of weave lanes, whether the proposals are DMRB compliant, accessibility of the site by foot or bicycle, and safety of pedestrians/employees accessing public transport by crossing the A9 on foot.
This should include but not be limited to internal communications and external communications with Stirling Council, GB Grove Limited, Graham and Sibbald, Systra, other consultants, and the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division.
Please provide this information in email format for the period from 2017 to the present day.
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.
Please see Annexes A-C to this response for a copy of some of the information you requested. 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.
An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) of the EIRs applies to some of the information you have requested. Regulation 10(4)(e) of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (the EIRs) allows a Scottish public authority to withhold internal communications. The exception applies here because the information requested is internal correspondence between officials.
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 a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing a private space within which officials can provide free and frank advice and discussion to ensure that policy work is informed and productive.
Some of the information you have requested is already available from the Scottish Governments Publication Page and can be found by using the following link Information held by Transport Scotland relating to planning application for local council area: EIR release - gov.scot. 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 website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
Further information in relation to this matter can be found on DPEA website at www.dpea.scotland.gov.uk and Stirling Council Planning Portal at View and comment on planning applications | Stirling Council.
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.