That Geological Disposal Facility and a forgotten workshop.

It’s strange, very strange.

At the beginning of September 2018 we brought you the blog post about Folkestone & Hythe District Council who “looking to the future actively consider options such as a Geological Disposal Facility.”

However, in an FoI response from  Folkestone & Hythe District Council they state:

• Some emails between F&H officers and BEIS are held regarding Geological Disposal Facility workshops. As these materials do not currently exist in the public domain, a fee has been raised.

• An initial estimate of 1 hour work to locate the requested information was provided, requiring a fee of £25.00. This has been calculated on the basis of officer time spent locating and collating emails that fall within scope of your request.

Now what is so strange is that the Dept for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in an FoI response have stated:

• Folkestone and Hythe District Council attended the consultation workshop that was run by BEIS on 22nd February 2018 in London. Following this, they then responded to the public consultation on Working with Communities (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/working-with-

  communities-implementing-geological-disposal ).

• Their response has been made public and they have published it here: http://www.folkestone- hythe.gov.uk/moderngov/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=15699&Opt=0 .

  We have not had any further correspondence with them since the above, other than to notify them that we would be alerting you to their consultation response.

Now what is so strange, so very strange is that FHDC failed to mention that somebody attended a consultation workshop, run by BEIS on the 22nd Feb 2018. FHDC’s FoI response is misleading by omission, as it fails to mention somebody attended a workshop on the 22nd of Feb 2018; which as we said is very strange indeed.

• Now please do remember that the FoI team at FHDC only supply the information supplied to them by the relevant person, or department. So it is NOT them at fault here.

FHDC’s FoI response is misleading by omission, as it fails to mention aomebody attended a workshop on the 22nd of Feb 2018; which as we said is very strange indeed.

So what did this somebody learn while at this workshop, what literature/information did they receive, (if any) and bring back to FHDC and the Cllr responsible to peruse?

And why is it so difficult for FHDC to be open and transparent about any meeting or potential Geological Disposal Facility on the marsh?

Now do remember the Cabinet member responsible for any potential Geological Disposal Facility on Romney Marsh is Councillor David Godfrey (pictured), who has stated he “would feel comfortable“with such a site on Romney Marsh. He resides in Hawkinge so it would not really affect him.

So we would ask the wonderful people of Romney Marsh, would you feel comfortable with a Geological Disposal Facility on your doorstep, if not please do make your feelings known to Cllr Godrey.

david.godfrey@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk

The Shepwayvox TEAM – Dissent is NOT a Crime.