Sophie Spencer Director, CPRE Avon and

Sent by e-mail: [[email protected]]

3 September 2020

Dear Ms Spencer

Ref No: [WECAFOI00113]

Thank you for your e-mail of 3 August 2020 requesting the following information:

We would like to request the suite of reports into the business case for the following schemes: 1. South East Bristol & Whitchurch. A4 - A37 Orbital Route; A37 - Bristol Link; A4 - MetroBus - Callington Rd Link; Orbital MetroBus: Park & Ride provision. 2. A4 Bristol - East arterial corridor. Avon Mill Lane - A4 Link; Keynsham Rlwy Stn improvements. 3. Strategic corridor (A4174 - Yate/CS). A432 MetroBus and strategic cycle route; A432 P&R; Yate Rlwy Stn improvements; Winterbourne Frampton Cotterell By Pass. 4. A38 (J16, Almondsbury to Falfield). MetroBus and strategic cycle route to Thornbury (and Buckover) including A38 P&R; Charfield Rlwy Stn reopening; M5 J14 Improvements. 5. Ring of P&R around Bristol. M32 P&R; A4018 P&R; A38(S) P&R. 6. Bristol Urban living package. Walking and cycling package including strategic cycle routes; Bus Network 2; City Centre movement.

I am treating your correspondence as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.

The information you requested is exempt from disclosure by virtue of Section 44(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which exempts information where its disclosure is prohibited by other legislation. In this case the documents requested supported the Emerging Findings Transport Report submitted as part of the evidence for the West of England Joint Spatial Plan, which has since been withdrawn.

In respect of this information, the Town & Country Planning regulations set out what authorities need to do when withdrawing a plan for examination:

"27. Where a local planning authority withdraw a local plan pursuant to section 22(1) of the Act, the local planning authority must as soon as reasonably practicable after withdrawing it—

(a) make available a statement of that fact in accordance with regulation 35;

(b) send, to each of the bodies notified under regulation 22(3)(b), notification that the local plan Tel: +44 (0)117 428 6210 3 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6ER Email: [email protected] www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) covers Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire. WECA also supports the Local Enterprise Partnership, which includes North Somerset. has been withdrawn; and

(c) cease to make any documents relating to the withdrawn local plan (other than the statement mentioned in sub-paragraph (a)) available in accordance with regulation 35."

Part (c) has led to the Emerging Findings report being withdrawn from the public domain and therefore the Authority is unable to provide the information requested.

The West of England Combined Authority will be producing a new evidence base for strategic planning, and in due course documentation summarising its transport appraisal is expected which will supersede the transport assessments undertaken to support the Joint Spatial Plan.

If you are not happy with the response to your request, you may ask for an internal review. You can do so by writing to the Data Protection Officer at West of England Combined Authority, 3 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6EW or emailing [email protected]. Your request must be received by the Authority within 40 working days of the date of this letter.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner. Details of your right to complain can be found at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ .

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Reproduction or commercial exploitation of materials supplied under this scheme without the express permission of West of England Combined Authority may be an infringement of copyright.

The Authority is unable to grant permission to reproduce or re-use any material accessed through this scheme that is the property of third parties. Permission to reproduce or re-use such material must be obtained from the copyright holders.

Kind regards,

FOI Team West of England Combined Authority

Tel: +44 (0)117 428 6210 3 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6ER Email: [email protected] www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) covers Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire. WECA also supports the Local Enterprise Partnership, which includes North Somerset.