Confusion and controversy erupts over relocation of Horsham animal rescue centre

Horsham District Council has admitted it gave out incorrect information over the matter and breached data protection regulations. And it says it is sorry.

Cliff and Laura Santini-Bradbury have run Holbrook Animal Rescue for more than 25 years but are having to move and are seeking planning approval to build a new centre on land they own off Jackrells Lane in Southwater. They are being forced to vacate their current site in north Horsham to make way for 2,750 new houses being built there.

And they have told of their ‘heartbreak’ after discovering that officers are recommending that the council should refuse their application at a meeting scheduled to be held on June 17. They – and scores of supporters – say they had previously understood from council documents that the application was being recommended for approval.

However, they – and hundreds of others – later received emails from the council, informing them that the recommendation was for refusal. And the emails contained the email addresses of everyone to whom it was sent.

Angry recipients are now denouncing the council’s data breach. One said: “The breach has been sent to approximately 500+ people receiving each other’s personal data … I feel that this breach could be damaging to many.”

Another said: “They have broken the rules on GDPR and treated the rescue centre unfairly.”

A council spokesperson said that the planning committee agenda for the meeting scheduled for June 17 was published on June 5 and that everyone who had expressed an interest in the rescue centre application was notified of the committee details.

"Due to an administrative error this unfortunately included the wrong recommendation which was at odds with the published agenda,” said the spokesperson. “While attempting to rectify the issue, an unintended disclosure of email addresses occurred which amounts to a personal data breach.

"This incident was identified very quickly and an email apology was issued immediately requesting that the original message be deleted. "The council takes the protection of personal data extremely seriously. We have conducted a thorough investigation into the cause of this breach and are implementing additional safeguards to prevent a recurrence. “We sincerely apologise for any concern or inconvenience this may have caused.”

The council says a new date will now be set for the committee meeting, instead of June 17. The spokesperson added: “A decision has been taken to defer the proposal to a future agenda to ensure all interested parties have the correct information ahead of it being considered at planning committee. Interested parties will be notified ahead of a new committee meeting date.”