EIR - Mitcham Gasworks [Jul 2024]

Your request 

Please provide copies of:

• written notes of pre-application meetings with the GLA
• GLA email correspondence with the prospective developers, their representatives or agents

since January 2022 in relation to the development of Mitcham Gasworks (Merton Council planning application reference 22/P3620)

Our response

Please find attached the information that we hold within the scope of your request.

Please note that some of the content, is being withheld as it falls under the exception in Regulation (5)(e) (confidentiality of commercial or industrial information) of the EIR. This information is contained within the Exceptional Enabling / Abnormal Costs – Summary Note (2624 EIR - Mitchamgasworks_pt3 Page 44).  The purpose of this exception is to protect any legitimate economic interests underlying commercial confidentiality. This information is commercial in nature because it relates to sensitive build cost information associated with the remediation of the gasworks. Given there are only a small number of contractors who can carry out the work, having this in the public domain would prejudice the developer’s business position and ability to operate in a competitive environment.

The information is not trivial, nor in the public domain and was provided to the GLA on a confidential basis and therefore protected by the common law of confidence. Disclosure of this information would prejudice the ability of the planning applicant to achieve best value for money. The information could be used by parties bidding for work to identify how much has been budgeted. A third party may then be able to create a bid that is modified and not truly competitive. The confidentiality of this information is therefore required to protect the legitimate economic interests of the planning applicant because disclosure could affect their bargaining position and ability to operate an effective procurement process.

In applying this exception, we have had to balance the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in disclosing the information. We acknowledge that there is a general public interest in transparency in relation to proposed developments of a larger scale. Providing detailed information held by public authorities is in keeping with the Government’s transparency agenda and promotes accountability and greater public participation. Furthermore, the public interest is served by the GLA being transparent and open to scrutiny to increase diligence. However, on balance, we consider that it is not in the public interest for the GLA to release information that would prejudice the commercial interests of a third-party. Disclosure by the GLA would be likely to have a detrimental effect on the procurement of services and potentially prejudicing the future negotiating capabilities of the planning applicant.