Request for a report on the Esplanade Quarter (FOI)

​Request

King Sturge, Currie and Brown, Trowers and Hamlins report in 2009 on the Esplanade Quarter.
Please can a copy be provided for public reference and given it is over 5 years old there should be no, very little, matters of confidentiality, especially as its of island wide importance

Response

This request is being refused under Article 33 and 34 Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.
See details below.

Exemptions

Article 33 Commercial Interests

Information is qualified exempt information if:

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information) 

Article 33 is a Qualified Exemption and therefore is subject to a Public Interest Test.

Article 34 The economy

Information is qualified exempt information if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice:

(a) the economic interests of Jersey; or

(b) the financial interests of the States of Jersey.

Article 34 is a Qualified Exemption and therefore is subject to a Public Interest Test.

Justification for exemption(s)

The previous proposed development agreement for the Esplanade quarter is still the subject of court proceedings. The reports as requested cannot therefore be released at this time.
The information is of significant commercial value and its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of the scheduled public authority.

The very disclosure of some information and the premature disclosure of other information could have a long – term cost to the taxpayer and the economic and financial interests of the island. Therefore we consider it would not be in the public interest to release this information at this time and these exemption(s) should be maintained.

Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011