Oswestry Borough Council (06B09241)
Planning applications Maladministration causing injustice
17 January 2008
Oswestry Borough Council granted planning permission for a new bungalow in the countryside, against both local plan policy and officers’ recommendation, without good planning reasons. The Ombudsman says “Had there been no maladministration, on balance, I believe this development would not have been permitted,” and “The Council’s failure … has resulted in the loss of open countryside and has changed the character of the area …”.
‘Mr Cowan’ and ‘Ms Butler’ (not their real names for legal reasons) live on the edge of a village surrounded by fields. The parents of a severely disabled child applied for planning permission for the erection of a bungalow to provide for her special medical needs, on a site opposite both Mr Cowan’s and Ms Butler’s properties. A representative of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England complained on behalf of Mr Cowan and Ms Butler about the Council's handling of the application.
The Ombudsman found that the Council was at fault in failing to give adequate reasons for granting the application against officers’ advice and against the Local Plan policies. He accepted that councillors were entitled to depart from the officers’ advice, but only where they have good reason to do so, based on clear and legitimate planning grounds. In this case councillors failed to provide such justification for the decision and that was maladministration.
The Ombudsman also found that, had there been no maladministration, on balance, this development would not have been permitted. This caused injustice to Mr Cowan and Ms Butler as the amenity they derived from living in open countryside would be permanently lost and there would be a fundamental change to the character of the area in which they live.
Remedy
The Ombudsman found maladministration causing injustice and recommended that the Council should:
- commission independent valuations of Mr Cowan’s and Ms Butler’s properties both before and after the development was approved;
- pay Mr Cowan and Ms Butler the difference between the valuations, if any; and
- pay Mr Cowan and Ms Butler £250 each in recognition of their time and trouble in pursuing the complaint.
Oswestry Borough Council did not agree to comply with the Ombudsman's recommendations, and so the Ombudsman issued a further report on 16 October 2008
The Council was absorbed into the new Shropshire Council (unitary authority) on 1 April 2009, and Shropshire Council, as successor authority, agreed to fulfil the Ombudsman's recommended remedy.
LGO satisfied with Council's response: 29 September 2009
Date Updated: 11/12/09