Freedom of Information Acts

[Tomw1989]

Hopefully this is the right part of the forum for this.

I've been thinking about writing to the local council to see if there are any tunnels worth exploring in my local area. I've found a few myself but I feel I may have missed something that they have on their books. I've already checked the 'what do they know' website, but nothing.

My question is, does anyone here have any experience asking this sort of question? I'm after a bit of guidance on the wording and the asking of the right questions...

Thanks

 

[FreshFingers]

You could try, but I don't think you'll get any joy, any way, get out and "explore" !

It's much more fun when the find is all your own work, I found a little tunnel the other day just by pure chance.

There are websites where you can pull up a chosen area on a modern OS map, which will then generate maps dating back through the years, back to the mid 1800! A bit of sleuthing should reveal a wealth of info.

Look for streams, brooks, rivers on the old maps, that will give you a big heads-up.

You might set the 'elf n safety buzzer going at the local council if they get wind

 

[Tomw1989]

I've been on quite a few explores and found quite a few other local sites I'm going to have a crack at, I haven't posted many reports and I don't feel the images are good enough for this site. May have to re-visit the sites and take some report-worthy photos.

In the mean time, I'll also have a bash at the FOI request to see what they come back with...

 

[Alley]

Yeah, I don't think the council will be much help. Where do you live? Maybe some locals could point you in the right direction.

What sort of tunnels? Train, water, mines, air raid shelters, caves..?

 

[Alley]

I found a little tunnel the other day just by pure chance.

Why do I not know about this?:mad
:

 

[FreshFingers]

......to be duly informed!

 

[Oxygen Thief]

Disused tunnels database

It's all there.

A FOI request won't get you far, in my opinion. By all means send one, but ask about nuclear fall out provisions or something that may yield interesting results.

 

[Tomw1989]

Disused tunnels database

It's all there.

A FOI request won't get you far, in my opinion. By all means send one, but ask about nuclear fall out provisions or something that may yield interesting results.

Ah thanks OT! That's a good start .

I'll cobble something together and get it sent off to my local council.

 

[Muttley]

Can't see you getting much out of the council

Your best bet is to get looking at OS maps on Bing and finding where things disappear.

The old maps referred to above is THIS

Other than that, it's all the things mentioned in the FAQs - local paper, top deck of the bus, old relatives, Facebook groups, forums full of train/mine/urbex cranks etc

 

[Derelict-UK]

I asked Birmingham but you had to be precise and hone in on certain areas as to do even just the city centre (B'ham has a small city centre) would have resulted in more work than what they can do for the free period.

FOI's are good for some stuff but your own research on the net/in the outside world could probably get you further.

 

[Tomw1989]

I asked Birmingham but you had to be precise and hone in on certain areas as to do even just the city centre (B'ham has a small city centre) would have resulted in more work than what they can do for the free period.

FOI's are good for some stuff but your own research on the net/in the outside world could probably get you further.

I thought I may have to be precise, but I'm unsure of what sort of questions I should be asking. Assuming you word processed the letter sent and you still have it on file, would it be possible for me to use it as a template?

 

[Oxygen Thief]

You can ask them anything, but as DUK said, it has to be precise. Ask them about a single aspect of a single place, and they'll probably find the information. For example, if you ask them about the annual budget for securing the particular tunnel in the years 2003 - 2013 they may have the answer. If you ask them for the names of every tunnel you'll get nowhere, because all the tunnels won't be recorded in one single place. You need to consider what information the council has, in which departments. Your request is only likely to be considered as realistic if you can send somebody to a single file in a single drawer in a single office.

Of course, once you get one bit of information, there's nothing stopping you asking for more. That's how the picture of Burlington was built up, by persistent work by a man known as LAC.

 

[Tomw1989]

You can ask them anything, but as DUK said, it has to be precise. Ask them about a single aspect of a single place, and they'll probably find the information. For example, if you ask them about the annual budget for securing the particular tunnel in the years 2003 - 2013 they may have the answer. If you ask them for the names of every tunnel you'll get nowhere, because all the tunnels won't be recorded in one single place. You need to consider what information the council has, in which departments. Your request is only likely to be considered as realistic if you can send somebody to a single file in a single drawer in a single office.

Of course, once you get one bit of information, there's nothing stopping you asking for more. That's how the picture of Burlington was built up, by persistent work by a man known as LAC.

Ah ok cool! I know what you mean. I've got 2 tunnels in my sights, one has been posted here already (albeit a very long time ago) and one that hasn't. I'll start with the tunnel that's not been reported yet...

 

[Derelict-UK]

www.whatdotheyknow.com makes FOI requests simple

 

[Tomw1989]

Thanks all! The FOI requests have been submitted, not just a waiting game.