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Nottinghamshire County Council (05C16686)

Waste management & Planning enforcement

Maladministration causing injustice

29 March 2007

Nottinghamshire County Council delayed in taking action to replace a household waste recycling centre (HWRC) on the edge of a village. The Ombudsman found that the Council’s Waste Disposal Authority breached the planning conditions set by the Planning Committee in July 2004, and for 16 months the HWRC operated without planning permission. She said this showed “blatant disregard for the planning system.” As a result, village residents had to tolerate HGV traffic and waste dumping for at least two years more than they should have.

Nottinghamshire County Council was the Waste Disposal Authority for the County. It was also the Planning Authority for minerals and waste. It had operated a household waste recycling centre (HWRC) on the edge of a small village for about 30 years. This Centre did not meet the Authority’s policy on the location of HWRCs, and since the late 1990s it had been expected that the HWRC would be relocated. In January 2000 the Director of Environment said this was “overdue”.

In July 2002 the Planning Committee gave planning permission for the site to operate until July 2004 subject to conditions and with the instruction that a further report should be brought to the Committee “well before” the permission expired.

The Ombudsman found that the Authority:

  • breached two of the conditions; and
  • could produce no evidence that it looked for an alternative site from July 2002 to September 2003.

This was despite the planning enforcement manager sending three reminders to the waste manager. As a result, the HWRC operated for 16 months without planning permission and the report was presented to the Planning Committee more than 16 months later than it should have been.

The Ombudsman found that this was maladministration by the Authority which, as a planning authority, had set a very bad example and shown blatant disregard for the planning system and its own Committee.

Although the Ombudsman recognised that there were considerable practical problems in finding a suitable replacement site, this did not excuse the Authority’s failures and maladministration which had delayed replacing the HWRC by at least two years. As a result the residents of the village suffered from heavy goods vehicle traffic and waste dumping for longer than they should have.

Remedy

To remedy the injustice resulting from its maladministration the Ombudsman recommended the Council to:

  • pay the Parish Council £2,500 towards a project for the benefit of the village;
  • investigate the frequency and implications of HGVs and other vehicles speeding through the village and take appropriate action;
  • give high priority to the project to replace the HWRC; and
  • introduce a system or systems to ensure that future actions required by committee resolutions are carried out. 

Planning permission for an alternative HWRC was finally secured on 13 April 2010.

LGO satisfied with Council's response: 13 May 2010
 

Date Updated: 07/06/10