Sewer connection applications (FOI)

Request

Please can you provide us with details of the following:

A

A list of public sewer connection applications that have been rejected since records began.

B

The reasons for those rejections.

C

A list of public sewer connection applications that have been made in the Trinity area over the last year that have been accepted.

Response

A and B

The Liquid Waste section within Infrastructure and Environment (I&E) does not maintain a list of all sewer connection applications received or the reason why any may have been rejected.

Therefore, this information is not held, and Article 10 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law has been applied.

It should be noted that sewer connection applications are generally only rejected when there is insufficient capacity in the foul sewer network or there are surface water disposal issues.

Our systems are not configured in a way that will allow extraction the details requested.  A manual search of records would be required in order to obtain this information. 

It has been estimated that it would take in excess of 12.5 working hours to locate and retrieve the data requested.  Therefore, this part of the request will not be processed further. Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. 

C

I&E does not maintain a list of sewer connection applications as detailed in the response to question A.

However, it should be noted the no sewer connection applications in the Trinity catchment area have been approved in the last year. 

Articles applied

Article 10 - Obligation of scheduled public authority to confirm or deny holding Information

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), if –

(a) a person makes a request for information to a scheduled public authority; and

(b) the authority does not hold the information, it must inform the applicant accordingly.

Article 16 - A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. 

(2) Despite paragraph (1), a scheduled public authority may still supply the information requested on payment to it of a fee determined by the authority in the manner prescribed by Regulations for the purposes of this Article.

(3) Regulations may provide that, in such circumstances as the Regulations prescribe, if two or more requests for information are made to a scheduled public authority –

(a) by one person; or

(b) by different persons who appear to the scheduled public authority to be acting in concert or in pursuance of a campaign, the estimated cost of complying with any of the requests is to be taken to be the estimated total cost of complying with all of them.