Canterbury City Council (20 004 788)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 23-Oct-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s planning application. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.

Peak District National Park Authority (20 000 533)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 21-Oct-2020

Summary: Mr X complained about the Authority’s decision to serve a repairs notice on him in 2010 which it withdrew in 2018 following a change of staff. He says it acted unreasonably in taking enforcement action over a period of several years. The Ombudsman should not exercise his discretion to investigate this complaint. This is because it concerns matters which we investigated in 2011 and which took place more than 12 months ago. Mr X did not complain about the decision to withdraw the repairs notice within 12 months of being informed of the decision.

Kettering Borough Council (19 010 250)

Statement Upheld Other 13-Oct-2020

Summary: Mr B complains about how the Council dealt with an alleged breach of planning control at his property. The Ombudsman finds that the Council’s communications about this matter were not clear enough and that this led to injustice for Mr B. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr B and to pay him £250.

Dartmoor National Park Authority (19 020 190)

Statement Not upheld Other 12-Oct-2020

Summary: Ms X complains about the Authority’s handling of a planning application for a housing development in her locality. The Ombudsman has found no evidence there was significant fault by the Authority.

Bristol City Council (20 003 658)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 08-Oct-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council did not act against an alleged breach of planning control by his neighbour. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault, there is not enough injustice and it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are not considering the substantive issue.

Exeter City Council (20 003 670)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 02-Oct-2020

Summary: The complainant says the Council refuses to add an informative about a restrictive covenant on a development site. The Ombudsman does not intend to investigate this complaint. It is late. And we do not consider Mr X has suffered a significant personal injustice because of the Council’s decision.

London Borough of Southwark (19 015 579)

Statement Upheld Other 30-Sep-2020

Summary: Mr B complained that the Council took inadequate action to remove a flagpole from a neighbour’s garden, which did not have planning permission. We find no fault with the Council’s decision not to take enforcement action but we do find fault with the way it reached this decision and the time taken to communicate it properly to Mr B. The Council has agreed to pay Mr B £250 to recognise the frustration, inconvenience and his time and trouble.

New Forest District Council (20 003 020)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 28-Sep-2020

Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s use of funds in relation to a planning permission. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no significant personal injustice caused to Mr X to warrant investigation and the Council’s actions affect all or most of the people of the area. Part of the complaint is out of time.

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council (19 019 165)

Statement Not upheld Other 25-Sep-2020

Summary: Mrs X complained about how the Council makes documents available to the public during the process to make a new local development plan. Mrs X said that because of this, it was difficult for her to make detailed comments on changes that might affect her. We ended our investigation as we are unlikely to find fault or provide a meaningful remedy for Mrs X.

Buckinghamshire Council (20 003 509)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 25-Sep-2020

Summary: Mr X complains the Council has treated him poorly about a breach of planning control on his neighbour’s property. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The alleged breach of planning control occurred in 2017 and it is too late to complain to the Ombudsman now. Complaints about failure to respond to requests for information have already been considered by the Information Commissioner’s Office.