Eastern Cycleway (FOI)

​​​​Request

A

Please confirm how much work has been undertaken on the Eastern Cycleway since April 2016?

B

Please also confirm how much has been spent on the Eastern Cycleway since April 2016?

Response

A

The following work has been undertaken in relation to the Easten Cycle Network since April 2016

• Construct a section of shared cycle / pedestrian path from St Clement Parish Hall to Rue de Maupertuis
• Provide traffic calming on Rue du Pontlietaut
• Provide traffic calming at the junction Samares Lane and Route du Maupertuis
• Establish a point closure on Route du Maupertuis (between Clos de la Mare and Rue de Samares) to eliminate through traffic
• Construct a section of shared pedestrian cycleway from Rue de Maupertuis to Samares Gardens Development
• Construct a shared pedestrian cycle path within the Samares Gardens development
• Surface with asphalt the shared cycle / pedestrian path alongside and through sections of Grouville Common from Longbeach to Rue Vardon
• Procure a planning permit to improve the shared cycle / pedestrian path that connects Rue Vardon with the Pembroke.

It should be noted that a number of other schemes, that will contribute to the Eastern Cycle Network, are currently being developed, however, further information is currently exempt from release under Article 35 (Formulation and development of policies) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Release of the information at this stage would likely generate misinformed debate. This could affect the ability of officials to consider and develop policy away from external pressures, and to advise Ministers appropriately. 

Article 35 is a qualified exemption; therefore, a public interest test has been applied and is shown at the end of this response.

B

The following table shows the annual amount spent on the Easten Cycle Network (‘ECN’) since 2016.

​It should be noted that the majority of the work carried out by Government of Jersey officers on the ECN schemes is considered business as usual and staff costs are not recorded.

The Government of Jersey systems are not configured in a way to allow internal Government of Jersey staff costs to be reported against individual transport projects.

Therefore, this information is not held and Article 10 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

​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 35 - Formulation and development of policies

Information is qualified exempt information if it relates to the formulation or development of any proposed policy by a public authority.

Public Interest Test

The following considerations were taken into account:

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure 

• Disclosure of the information would support transparency and promote accountability to the general public, providing confirmation that the necessary discussions have taken place.
• Disclosure to the public fulfils an educative role about the early stages in policy development and illustrates how the department engages with parties for this purpose.  

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information 

• In order to best develop policy and provide advice to Ministers, officials need a safe space in which free and frank discussion can take place – discussion of how documentation is presented and provided is considered as integral to policy development as iterations of documents are demonstrative of the policy development process. 
• The need for this safe space is considered at its greatest during the live stages of a policy. 
• Release of the information at this stage might generate misinformed debate in. This would affect the ability of officials to consider and develop policy away from external pressures, and to advise Ministers appropriately. 
• Premature disclosure of this information may limit the willingness of parties to provide their honest views and feedback. This would hamper and harm the policy–making process not only in relation to this subject area but in respect of future policy development across wider departmental business.

Following assessment, the Government of Jersey has concluded that, on balance, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

It should also be noted that once a policy is formulated and published, the public interest in withholding information relating to its formulation is diminished, however, the use of the exemption can be supported if it preserves sufficient freedom during the policy formulation phase to explore options without that process being hampered by some expectation of future publication.​