Bedford Borough Council (04B16901)

Planning applications, Planning enforcement & Environmental health

Maladministration causing injustice

12 January 2006

‘Mr Vincent’ (not his real name) lived close to a field used by a model aircraft club. The Council received complaints about noise in autumn 2003, but did not investigate until summer 2004, partly because flying ceased over the winter. The Council did not decide whether the activities caused a statutory noise nuisance. The activities did not have planning permission and the Council asked the flying club to make an application. The Ombudsman considered that the Council missed an opportunity to take noise readings to decide whether noise levels were acceptable before determining the planning application.

The Council’s environmental health consultant believed the site could comply with the Code of Practice on Noise from Model Aircraft by imposing of a number of conditions. Mr Vincent objected, saying that the site could not comply with the Code of Practice because of the inadequate distance between the airfield and his house. The Council did not verify this point, although it subsequently accepted it to be accurate, and did not report his objections to Committee. This was maladministration, which led to the Council imposing a condition on the grant of a temporary planning permission with which the flying club could not comply.

The Council granted planning permission for 12 months to enable it to assess the situation. Members of the Committee were unaware of Mr Vincent’s representations and indicated that they would have expected his representations to have been reported to them. The Ombudsman concluded that there was doubt whether the application would have been approved if this had happened.

Mr Vincent continued to complain about noise and the Council appointed a consultant to investigate. The Ombudsman criticised the Council for delay in doing so. The consultant was not based in the area and he did not witness any flying when on site. The Ombudsman criticised the Council for not pursuing Mr Vincent’s complaints with more vigour. If it had done so it might have had evidence of nuisance caused by the breach of the planning condition with which the flying club could not comply, which would have enabled it to take enforcement action.

The Ombudsman found maladministration causing injustice and recommended that the Council should:

• pay Mr Vincent £1,500; and
• review its procedures, including liaison between its planning and environmental health departments and its reporting arrangements for planning decision makers, to ensure that, as far as possible, a similar situation does not recur.
   

Date Published: 27/04/09