Mr John Cameron PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIALDear Mr Cameron,Wimbledon And Putney Commons23rd November 2018Thank you for your further request for information that was made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) received on the 5th November 2018. As you have previously been notified, Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators (WPCC) is not considered a public authority for the purposes of the FOIA, as confirmed by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on the 24th October 2017.For sake of clarity, your information request to WPCC on this historic matter is set out below.Freedom of Information / Environmental Information Regulations – WPCC / Lease of land to the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club for a private car parkI wish to make a request under FOI / EIR in respect of the lease of land by the WPCC to the RWGC.As you are aware the 1871 Act states that it is unlawful for the Conservators to sell, lease, grant or in any manner dispose of any part of the commons. The lease of land to the RWGC for a private car park is a material breach of the Act, and unlawful. The Commons are kept “forever open and unenclosed" and the grant of a substantial car park for the private benefit of a golf club cannot be squared with this legal obligationAt the time of the sale of the lease, the charity trustees will have received professional advice, including the value of the land leased to the RWGC. The professional advice will have been in the form prescribed by charity law.1. Copies of all “Qualified Surveyors Reports” and / or “valuations” and / or “ valuation advice” (whether in formal reports / otherwise) procured by the WPCC up until the lease was granted.2. If there was subsequent advice in respect of value, post the grant of the lease, I wish to receive that advice as well.3. Copies of all other professional advice received at the time of the sale, (ie from Counsel or solicitors etc acting for the WPCC), for example that the sale was a breach of the act, and unlawful.4. Copies of all other information which is held in respect of the sale (ie correspondence between management / trustees / advisers / insurers and so on). First and foremost, WPCC has never entered into a lease or sale arrangement with the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club (RWGC) for lands that comprise any part of Wimbledon and Putney Commons. Therefore, none of the information you have requested in relation to a non-existent lease is available.In the interests of transparency, however, we understand that your latest request concerns the exchange of use of two parcels of land that were in the 1970s being used by both WPCC and the RWGC as car parks. Through negotiation, this agreement enabled WPCC to build a dedicated maintenance centre on land owned by RWGC thereby allowing WPCC to effectively fulfil its charitable objects of preserving, protecting and keeping the Commons open, unenclosed and unbuilt upon.The exchange of use of land was a complex matter that commenced in December 1975 when WPCC was notified that the maintenance depot it was renting on land owned by Wandsworth Council was to be developed for housing purposes. The matter was resolved by the Conservators some 37 years ago when a lease of land, which was owned by the RWGC (ie, not part of Wimbledon and Putney Commons) and on which the new maintenance centre was built, was signed by WPCC in April 1981 for a 60 year period.Your current request follows your similar previous request for information, also made under both FOIA and the EIR, received by WPCC on the 3rd September 2018, regarding the enfranchisement of Mill House, a matter finalised by WPCC in 2006, some 12 years ago. Both requests relate to historic transactions and request voluminous documentation detailing the way in which the decisions to enter into such arrangements were taken by WPCC.Your two requests for information relating to these historic transactions follow another complaint that you raised in May 2018 relating to The Spencer Benches although on that occasion, you chose to refer the matter directly to the Charity Commission on the basis that you had obtained a legal opinion alleging that the licence for The Spencer Benches on Putney Lower Common between WPCC and The Spencer Public House was unlawful. In response to your complaint, WPCC received a request from the Charity Commission on 27th June 2018 for documentation relating to the decision permitting the benches to be placed on the Commons. This complaint alone resulted in WPCC expending considerable time compiling information and convening a Special Meeting of the Board as well as incurring legal costs to defend its position. Having reviewed WPCC’s response to its request, the Charity Commission confirmed on the 27th July 2018 that it was satisfied with the way in which the Board had taken its decision and that no further action would be taken.The Conservators thoroughly considered your latest request for information at its Board meeting on the 7th November 2018. As set out above, since the new Board was constituted on 4th April 2018, this latest information request represents the third Board decision that you have chosen to investigate. The Board therefore considered that this latest request for information is indicative of a vexatious pattern of information requests relating to historic transactions, disclosure of which does not meet the public interest test criteria. In addition, the Board considers that much of the material relating to the agreement is likely to contain information protected by legal professional privilege as well as personal data as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).WPCC is a charity with limited resources and a small team of staff responsible for managing a very large public open space covering some 1,140 acres of land. The primary focus must be on delivering day to day services, ensuring that the Commons are safe and accessible for visitors and users. There is a serious risk that your continued requests and complaints are absorbing a disproportionate amount of time, attention and resource required by all those involved in the management of WPCC. The ability to respond to such requests is not sustainable for the charity as it places a disproportionate burden on both the financial and human resources, which not only disrupts the effective day to day management of the charity but places an unjustified level of strain on WPCC’s ability to execute its core functions.The Board therefore has declined to supply information relating to the agreement on application of the exemption under Regulation 12 (4) (b) of the EIR 2004 as the Board deems this request to be ‘manifestly unreasonable’. In addition, under Regulation 12 (5) (d), the Board believes that the disclosure would adversely affect the confidentiality of proceedings provided by legal professional privilege.In reaching its decision, the Board considered that with respect to Regulation 12 (1) (b), given the significant period that has lapsed since the agreement between RWGC and WPCC was reached and the fact that the matter has already been discussed in the public domain over the course of the intervening 37 years, there is limited if any public interest in disclosure of the information relating to this agreement. Given the strain on resources in providing the information, which would hinder WPCC’s ability to deliver mainstream services, the public interest in maintaining the exception therefore outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.Furthermore, in reaching its decision, the Board considered that with respect to Regulation 13 (2) (a) (i) and (ii), information relating to this historic transaction would likely involve disclosure of personal data under the DPA. The information relating to the subject agreement was supplied prior to the Freedom of Access to Information Council Directive 90/313/EEC coming into effect on 7th June 1990 (later repealed and replaced by Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28th January 2003) and prior to the determination by the ICO that WPCC was considered to be a public authority for the purposes of the EIR on 24th October 2017. As such, parties subject to the agreement in question would not have expected to have any information that was voluntarily provided as part of the transaction to be subject to public disclosure requirements. There are likely to be other issues relating to disclosure of personal data under the DPA.With regards to Regulation 13 (3), data protection is a complex area with new legislation introduced in May 2018 through the DPA, guidance for which is still being updated by the ICO. In order to fully evaluate the personal data considerations relating to the agreement, the charity would be forced to expend its limited resources on legal advice. The Board therefore considered that the public interest in disclosing any personal data relating to this historic transaction would be outweighed by the public interest in maintaining the exception.You have the right to complain to WPCC if you disagree with the way in which the matter has been handled, as long as you do so in writing within 40 days of receipt of this notice. Please adhere to WPCC’s Complaints Procedure; Stage 1 requires that you complete WPCC’s Complaint Contact Form in writing, either by email (complaints@wpcc.org.uk) or (hard copy) letter to:Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators (WPCC) Manor CottageWindmill Road, Wimbledon CommonWimbledon SW19 5NRPlease note that WPCC’s appeals process includes escalation to the WPCC Chairman. If the matter reaches that stage, I would be prepared to meet with you to try to understand your interest in these historic matters in order that we can work together to ensure WPCC’s resources remain focused on our primary duty of protecting, preserving and enhancing the Commons. Following WPCC’s internal review, you have the right to complain to the ICO. Complaints about a request made under the EIR must be submitted to the ICO within three months of the outcome of your internal review. Details regarding the way in which a complaint may be submitted to the ICO may be found at:https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/official-information-concerns-report/official-information- concern/official-information-concerns-report/You may submit your complaint and supporting documentation either by email (casework@ico.org.uk) or by (hard copy) letter to the ICO at the address set out below.Customer ContactInformation Commissioner's Office Wycliffe HouseWater LaneWilmslowSK9 5AFYours sincerely,Diane Neil MillsChairman of the Board of WPCC
John Cameron ● 2910d