Controversial’ application deferred after council confirms data breach at planning board in Rotherham

Rotherham Council’s planning committee was told by the chair, Cllr Alan Atkin (Labour) yesterday (July 20)that a data breach happened and some people who wanted the right to speak were not notified five working days before the meeting.

He and the board were told by a member of the public that two people were unable to attend the meeting because they were only told on Friday afternoon last week.

Cllr Atkin said the person or persons who sent out the letters “made a mistake”.

The chair told the committee that he wanted to go ahead with the voting but an opposing resident – alongside some board members – called for a deferment.

The decision was put to a vote and the board voted to defer the ‘controversial’ plans of the erection of up to 217 homes on Shrogswood Road with an eight-to-four majority.

Rotherham Council’s Assistant Director for Planning, Regeneration and Transport, Simon Moss, told the Local Democracy Service: “We can confirm there was a data breach which occurred as result of an error when sending letters to people who had requested the right to speak at the Planning Board on 20th July.

“The only information shared were names and addresses of those who had requested a right to speak and the information was not published, it was shared in email format with other objectors, the agent for the planning application and MP Alexander Stafford. The breach was reported immediately to the Council’s Information Governance Unit who are investigating further. We have apologised to those involved and they have been made aware of this matter.

“We have refreshed our training and the staff involved have been briefed to prevent this reoccurring in the future.”