Response 4053402

Response to request for information

Reference

4053402

Response date

28 July 2026

Request

This is a request regarding the proposed commercial campsite at Holme Pierrepont. I understand exemption certificates held by the developer (Beltent Village) are private enforcement documents and cannot be released. I am writing to formally challenge this position and submit an information request. This development involves a massive commercial operation of glamping pods sitting in a known flood zone approximately 20/30 metres from The Hook Nature Reserve, via narrow roads, this is a matter of urgent public safety and environmental interest.

Under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), the public has a strict right to see documents held by the council that impact land use and environmental safety. Therefore, I formally request that the council provides:

1. Copies of the Three Exemption Certificates: The council confirmed the operator holds one certificate under the 1936 Public Health Act and two under the 1960 Caravan Sites Act. Because the council is using these specific documents to justify why they are not taking enforcement action, they must be disclosed under the EIR.
2. Clarification on National Self-Certification: Please confirm the exact identity of the national organisation supervising this site. Under Natural England criteria, a private commercial entity cannot legally issue an exemption certificate to themselves to bypass local authority planning laws. If Beltent Village holds the national certificate and is attempting to self-certify its own development, please confirm what evidence Rushcliffe Borough Council has requested to prove this arrangement is approved by Natural England.
3. Public Safety, Fire, and Flood Risk Monitoring: The council stated that flood risk is not considered under General Permitted Development Order Part 5. However, under the Environment Act 2021, the council maintains an overarching duty of care to protect the local environment. Please state what emergency and enforcement protocols the council will deploy if vulnerable temporary structures, along with paying clients, are exposed to fire or flood on this site, particularly considering the site's ingress and access limitations for emergency vehicles. 
4. The Definition of Operational Development: Please confirm how the council intends to proactively monitor the site to ensure that the proposed pods, decking, and utility blocks remain strictly transportable and do not become permanent physical developments requiring standard planning permission.

As required by law, I look forward to your formal response to this EIR request within 20 working days.

Response

This request is being processed under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), because it asks for environmental information as defined by Regulation 2(1) of the EIR. Regulation 2(1)(b) of the EIR covers factors such as substances, energy, noise, radiation or waste, including radioactive waste, emissions, discharges and other releases into the environment, affecting, or likely to affect, the elements of the environment. 

1. Copies of the Three Exemption Certificates. The Council holds this information but considers that it is excepted from disclosure under EIR regulation 12(5)(f), which relates to situations where disclosure would adversely affect the interests of the party who supplied the information. This exception applies where the information does not relate to emissions and the following criteria are met:
   • Voluntary supply: The provider was not legally obligated to supply the information, nor could they have been compelled to do so.
   • Confidentiality: The information was supplied in confidence. 
   • Adverse effect: Releasing the information would cause actual harm to the provider's interests.
   • Public interest test: The public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

The Council has considered this test and has determined that the supplier of the information was under no legal obligation to provide it; that it was provided with an expectation of confidentiality; and that harm to the supplier’s interests would result from public disclosure.

The Council has also carried out the public interest test required under the EIR. In doing so, it has weighed the general presumption in favour of disclosure against the specific public interest in protecting information which was supplied voluntarily and in confidence.

Public interest in disclosure.

• There is a general public interest in environmental information being made available, to promote openness and accountability in decision-making by public authorities.
• Disclosure can assist public understanding of how the Council has considered matters relating to the use of land and the application of relevant statutory provisions.

Public interest in maintaining the exception

• There is a strong public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of information supplied voluntarily to the Council, where disclosure would undermine the confidence on which that provision of information was based.
• Disclosure in this case would be likely to discourage individuals or organisations from supplying similar information to the Council in future, which would adversely affect the Council’s ability to receive information voluntarily and deal effectively with related matters.

Having balanced these factors, the Council considers that the public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The information was supplied voluntarily and in confidence, and disclosure would be likely to adversely affect the interests of the information provider. The Council therefore considers that regulation 12(5)(f) is engaged and that the information should not be disclosed.

Advice and assistance under Regulation 9 EIR.

To assist you, the Council can reiterate that it is not correct, as claimed, that these certificates are being used by the Council to avoid enforcement action. There is no requirement for the Council to consider enforcement action, as there has been no material change in the use of the land which would amount to a breach of planning control. 

2. Clarification on National Self-Certification: Please confirm the exact identity of the national organisation supervising this site.  
   In accordance with regulation 12(4)(a) I confirm that the information you have requested is not held by the Council at this time.

Advice and assistance under Regulation 9 EIR

The Council can confirm that no activity is occurring on this site that would involve supervision from the type of organisation cited.  
The relevant legislation states that a national certificate holder can issue site-specific certificates in respect of “any land”. There is nothing in the legislation which places any limitation on the interpretation of “any land”, and the Council is unaware of any guidance to the contrary.

The Council has previously sought clarification from you on the “Natural England Criteria” you reference, which you suggest would prevent a national certificate holder from issuing site-specific certificates for land which they own or control. No response has been received to date. If you are able to clarify the relevant criteria or legislative framework applicable, you may wish to submit a fresh request for information.

3. Public Safety, Fire, and Flood Risk Monitoring: In accordance with regulation 12(4)(a) I confirm that the information you have requested is not held by the Council at this time.

Advice and assistance under Regulation 9 EIR

The site is understood to be an agricultural field, and the Council is not aware of any current activities on the site that would require the public safety, fire or flood-risk monitoring arrangements referred to in your request.

An EIR request provides a right of access to environmental information held by the Council. It does not require the Council to create new information, provide legal analysis on hypothetical scenarios, or obtain information from third parties where that information is not already held.

By way of advice and assistance, the Council confirms that the Environment Act 2021 does not impose a single overarching duty on local authorities to protect or care for the environment in all circumstances. Rather, it creates specific statutory duties. This includes the General Biodiversity Objective, which requires local authorities to consider what action they can properly take, consistently with the proper exercise of their functions, to further that objective.

That duty does not override the Council’s obligations to apply other statutory regimes correctly. In particular, it does not enable the Council to treat development as requiring planning permission, or as being vulnerable to planning enforcement action, where the proper application of planning legislation indicates otherwise. Nor does it provide a basis for requiring private landowners to submit reports or monitoring information where there is no separate statutory requirement to do so.

4. The Definition of Operational Development: Operational development is defined within section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended). The Council's policies on proactive monitoring are set out in its published Planning Enforcement Policy