Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (21 016 475)
Category : Other Categories > Land
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 Mar 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s access rights over land sold by the Council to a developer. This is because the complaint falls outside our jurisdiction as we would reasonably expect Mr X to take the matter to court.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, says the Council misrepresented matters in relation to the sale of land it owned and over which he had had access rights for over 60 years. He says this is a breach of the law and he should be provided with an alternative route.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council sold land to a developer. Mr X claims access rights over part of the land sold and has called into question the legality of the sale, claiming the Council did not properly represent his access rights.
- The Council does not accept Mr X’s view of the sale and it has told him it has a different opinion as to both fact and law in relation to the matter.
- The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to Mr X’s complaint. He has an alternative remedy available against the Council via the courts and as we would reasonably expect him to use it, the complaint falls outside our jurisdiction and will not be investigated.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint falls outside our jurisdiction as we would reasonably expect Mr X to take the matter to court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman