Request ID: FOI-4532-2324 Date published: 20 March 2024
You asked
Please can I obtain copies of the planning documentation highlighted red on the attached.
If you have any queries or require further information, please feel free to contact me.
We answered
TfL Ref: EIR-4532-2324
Thank you for your request of 26th February 2024 asking for copies of Crossrail planning documentation. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and our information access policy.
Specifically you asked: “Please can I obtain copies of the planning documentation highlighted red on the attached. I note that there are 8 separate entries on the register provided with your request, dating back to 2011 and 2012. I am afraid that given the passage of time there is no easy way of finding this material. The Crossrail project closed in May 2023 and any material that had not been archived at that juncture was subsequently archived. I have been in liaison with our Archives team who have run an automated search of their storage system and found over 38,000 records that reference “Hanover Square”. These results are from across all sections of the Archive and to determine exactly what each one relates to it would have to be individually downloaded and checked for relevance.
Given this, your request is being refused under Regulation 12(4)(b) of the EIRs on the basis that it is ‘manifestly unreasonable’. The use of this exception is subject to consideration of the public interest test, which requires us to determine whether the public interest in applying the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure. We recognise the need for openness and transparency in the operation of our business, and the fact you have requested the information is in itself an argument in favour of disclosure. However, given the inordinate amount of time it would take to source the requested information and the fact that this would divert a disproportionate amount of our resource away from our core functions, we believe the public interest favours the application of the exception.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
