Bath & North East Somerset Council (07B06575)

Planning applications                 Maladministration causing injustice

21 October 2008

Bath and North East Somerset Council failed to notify a woman of an application to build a modern, two-storey house on property adjoining hers. The Ombudsman says the woman has “a justifiable sense of outrage” at her lost opportunity to object to the development, but concludes that the outcome would not have been different had the failure not occurred.

‘Mrs Taylor’ (not her real name for legal reasons) complained that the Council failed to notify her of an application for planning permission to demolish a one-storey property in front of her home and to replace it with a modern two-storey house. As a result she was deprived of the opportunity to object to the development, which was within a conservation area and an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The case officer recommended that the application be refused, but failed to include the opinions of a conservation officer and policy officer in her report to support her conclusions. The application was approved by the Council’s Development Control Committee, against the advice of officers.

The failure to provide a full report to members was a flaw in the Council’s decision-making process. Mrs Taylor has a justified sense of outrage at her loss of an opportunity to influence the outcome. However, the Ombudsman concluded in this case that the outcome of the application would not have been different had the maladministration not occurred.

The Ombudsman finds maladministration causing injustice and the Council has agreed to pay Mrs Taylor £1,000 to remedy the outrage she felt at having lost her opportunity to comment on the application, and a further £250 to compensate her for the time and trouble she had taken in pursuing her complaint.

Date Published: 27/10/08