Licences granted under the Wildlife Act

Summary

The requester asked for Wildlife Act licence applications and grants related to the proposed Cair Vie wind farm ecological surveys. The authority released some licences issued in 2025 but withheld personal data under an absolute exemption, noting no applications were received in 2024.

Key Facts

• No licence applications were received for the Cair Vie wind farm in 2024.
• Licences issued in 2025 to individuals for ecological surveys were included in the response.
• Licences are granted to individuals or organisations, not to specific developments or sites.
• Some information was withheld because it constitutes personal data of non-requesters.
• Disclosure of the withheld information would contravene data protection principles under the GDPR.

Data Disclosed

• 4572065
• 2025-04-08
• 2025-05-08
• 2024
• 2025
• Section 25(b)(i)&(ii)
• Article 5
• Article 6
• Section 16(1)
• 1990
• 2018
• 2015

Exemptions Cited

• Section 25(b)(i)&(ii) – Absolutely exempt personal information
• Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018
• Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation

Original Request

Please provide copies of application forms and licences granted under the Wildlife Act for any ecological surveys carried out in relation to the proposed Cair Vie wind farm development or associated infrastructure.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator Corporate Services Directorate Thie Slieau Whallian, Foxdale Road, St John’s, Isle of Man, IM4 3AS Tel no (01624) 685854 Fax no (01624 685851 Email: defa@gov.im www.gov.im

Our ref: 4572065 08 May 2025

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 8 April 2025, which states:

"Please provide copies of application forms and licences granted under the Wildlife Act for any ecological surveys carried out in relation to the proposed Cair Vie wind farm development or associated infrastructure."

Our response to your request is as follows: I have enclosed copies of the information that is being released to you.

Section 25(b)(i)&(ii) – Absolutely exempt personal information While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because it is absolutely exempt under section 25 of the Act (absolutely exempt personal information). The reasons why that exemption applies are that:

• The Department of Environment Food and Agriculture is satisfied that the information amounts to personal data of which you are not the data subject; and • The Department of Environment Food and Agriculture is satisfied that disclosure of the information would contravene one of the data protection principles as set out at Article 5 of the General Data Protection Regulation as it applies in the Isle of Man pursuant to the Data Protection (Application of GDPR) Order 2018, namely that the Department of Environment Food and Agriculture can only disclose the information where it would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions for lawful processing in Article 6 and in this case, none of those conditions have been met.

To offer advice and assistance, the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) issues Wildlife Act licences to individuals or organisations for specific activities set out under Section 16(1) of the Wildlife Act 1990. These include scientific research, conservation, education, or photography — and allow actions that would otherwise be an offence, such as disturbing certain specially protected species.

Licences are granted to the person carrying out the activity, not to a development or site. This means there is no requirement to notify DEFA of survey work unless a licence is needed for specific actions, such as disturbing protected species. In relation to the proposed Cair Vie wind farm, no licence applications were received in 2024. However, licences were issued this year to individuals undertaking ecological surveys, which are included in this FOI response. Please quote the reference number 4572065 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on:

1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or
2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.

In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision.

More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im.

Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely