Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council acquired land close to the complainants property, which a sports club has subsequently been allowed to install football pitches on. This is because the complaint is made late and the courts are better placed to settle disputes about land ownership.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains that the Council took ownership of land close to his property that it did not own, and it has subsequently leased the land to a sports club which has been allowed to install football pitches close to Mr X’s boundary.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council taking ownership of the land. This is because Mr X has been aware of the matter for a number of years. This element of his complaint is therefore late, and I see no reason why he could not have raised the matter with us sooner. If he had raised the matter before now it is likely we still would not have investigated this element of his complaint, this is because disputes over land ownership are better decided in court.
8. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has allowed a sports club to install pitches on the land. This is because this element of his complaint is also late. Planning approval was given in 2018 for the football pitches and I see no reason why Mr X could not have raised this matter with the Ombudsman sooner.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late and the courts are better placed to consider disputes about land ownership.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman