ELM (Elmbridge) scraper failing — TCP timeout, server returning 503

[symroe]

Error (2026-06-24)

net::ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT at mgWebService.asmx

Investigation

https://mygov.elmbridge.gov.uk/mgWebService.asmx/GetCouncillorsByWard is currently returning HTTP 503 Service Unavailable. The scraper already has http_lib = "playwright" set (added in a previous run), so this is not a TLS fingerprint issue — the server itself appears to be down or temporarily unreachable.

Fix patterns ruled out

1. HTTPS migration — already HTTPS
2. verify_requests = False — not a cert issue; server is returning 503
3. http_lib = "playwright" — already set; TCP-level failure or server-side 503
4. URL changes — no evidence the URL has moved

What needs to happen

Check whether mygov.elmbridge.gov.uk is temporarily down or has been decommissioned/moved. If Elmbridge has migrated their ModGov instance to a new subdomain, update base_url in metadata.json. If the server comes back up and the error changes to a WAF-type failure, the existing http_lib = "playwright" should handle it.