The International Academy of Greenwich (IAG) is a free school that is proposing major development of Metropolitan Open Land at the Bowring Sports Club Ground, Eltham Road, London, SE12. The ESFA and their appointed representatives/contractors have consulted with TFL about this major development. Please can you provide me with any opinions, correspondence, reports, surveys and meeting minutes that TfL have issued or received regarding IAG and the proposed major development to/from: the DfE, ESFA and their agents or any other representatives/contractors AND any other outside bodies such as Local Authorities etc, during the time period of 1st December 2018 to 5th May 2019? If it helps, there are three planning references related to this project: GLA reference 4431. Greenwich council ref 18/4193/F and 19/1445/EIA. I believe that TFL may also have consulted with Lewisham council concerning the proposed major development.

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TfL Ref: 0386-1920

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 5 May 2019 asking for information about information issued or received by TfL relating to the proposed development of Metropolitan Open Land by The International Academy of Greenwich (IAG) at the Bowring Sports Club Ground, Eltham Road, London, SE12 between the period 1 December 2018 and 5 May 2019.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy.  I can confirm that we hold the information you require.

Attached are the emails held between TfL and the Royal Borough of Greenwich,  London Borough of Lewisham and external emails between TfL and the applicant as requested along with the initial comments letter dated 20 January 2019 to the London Borough of Greenwich. A Highways Report is also attached which formed part of the email dated 13 March 2019 to Matthew Foreman from Greenwich council.

In accordance with the EIR, we are not obliged to supply some of the information requested as it is subject to a statutory exception to the right of access.  Regulation 12 (4) (e) provides for an exception permitting Transport for London the right to refuse a request under the Regulations where the information sought is internal communications.

Some of the information caught within the scope of your request is communications between TfL employees relating to an ongoing live planning application and disclosure at this early juncture could inhibit TfL’s ability to communicate freely and openly in a private space. 

There is a need for  colleagues within TfL to be able to freely communicate in order to facilitate the development of views and opinions prior to making those views known formally and as such, there is a strong argument that disclosure to the ‘public at large’ at this time would tend to lead to a chilling effect on the quality of discussion between said colleagues.

Whilst we fully accept that there is a right for the public to know the basis for planning decisions the final planning decision will be made known once it has been taken. In view of this, in balancing the public's right to know against the need for free space to exchange views, we feel that maintaining the exception at this time against disclosure of internal communications outweighs the general public interest.

A planning report reference GLA/4431/01 which TfL contributed to is published on the GLA website and can be accessed using the following link::  https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/planning/planning-applications-and-decisions/planning-application-search/bowring-group-sports-centre-0

For completeness, there are also some documents relating to this planning application on the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s website which you can access here:  https://planning.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDeails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=_GRNW_DCAPR_98549

Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under the Data Protection legislation some personal data has been removed, as required by Regulation 13 of the Environmental Information Regulations. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle of the legislation, which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions of Schedule 2 which would make the processing ‘fair’.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Sara Thomas

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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