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Lorry park ban legal advice to stay hidden
Page 7
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THE INFORMATION Commissioner has upheld a decision by the Highways Agency (HA) not to release the legal advice it received that would explain why it tried to ban members of the public from buying food and drink at the Orwell Crossing Lorry Park.
CM appealed against an internal review by the government agency, which found it was not in the public interest to release the information. The Suffolk lorry park fought a long-running battle against restrictions placed on its business. Its future was hanging by a thread after the HA claimed permission to build the truck park was given on the basis it served only truck drivers, and not the general public.
A Planning Inspector eventually found in favour of truck park boss Karl Rout, although it still had to contend with advertising restrictions (CM 5 August 2008).
The advice requested under the Freedom of Information Act concerns legal opinion on the strength of the HA's position and its prospects of successfully resisting an appeal.
The Commissioner says: "There may be some individuals, such as those who own the park, who are more significantly impacted by the decision by the Highways Agency to oppose the lorry park owner's appeal and how this was reached.
"However, balanced against this is the need for the Highways Agency to be able to seek free and frank legal advice, as a private third party would be able to, so that the Highways Agency is not put at a disadvantage to private third parties."
The Information Commissioner found that the HA had incorrectly applied an exemption and had breached rules by not dealing with Commercial Motor's request under the correct access regime, but he concluded that no further steps should be taken.