Cornwall Council (21 005 966)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 21-Sep-2021

Summary: Ms X complains of damage caused by the Council when developing a neighbouring property. We will not investigate this complaint because this can be more appropriately determined by the courts.

Southend-on-Sea City Council (20 011 291)

Statement Upheld Other 20-Sep-2021

Summary: Mr Y complains the Council has not met with him or acted on his complaints about noise from a nearby airport. He says the airport is in breach of its planning obligations and its measurement of noise levels is inaccurate. Mr Y says noise from the airport means he cannot sleep. At this stage, the Ombudsman does not find fault in how the Council investigated the matter. We find fault in delays responding to Mr Y but this did not cause a significant injustice.

Elmbridge Borough Council (21 006 350)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 16-Sep-2021

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council requiring Mr X to pay an affordable housing contribution. This is because he has right of appeal to the Planning Inspector.

Luton Borough Council (21 001 308)

Statement Upheld Other 15-Sep-2021

Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his neighbour’s application for prior approval of an extension. There was fault with the Council’s handling of contacts from Mr X. But this fault did not cause Mr X significant injustice that warrants further pursuit of the complaint by the Ombudsman.

Amber Valley Borough Council (21 006 281)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 15-Sep-2021

Summary: We cannot investigate the complaint from Mr X, a parish council chairman, about the Council’s role in a developer not providing an equipped playground as part of a planning agreement. The law does not allow us to accept complaints made by authorities constituted for the purposes of public service. This includes parish councils.

London Borough of Ealing (21 000 857)

Statement Upheld Other 14-Sep-2021

Summary: Ms X complains that the Council has not published any authority monitoring reports (AMR) for the past six years. There is fault by the Council because it has not met its statutory duty to produce these reports. The Council should now produce the report for the present year within three months of the Ombudsman’s decision on this complaint.

Guildford Borough Council (21 005 835)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 08-Sep-2021

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council publishes documents relating to planning applications on its website. This is because there is another body better placed to consider the complaint.

Dorset Council (21 005 476)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 06-Sep-2021

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about ownership of land behind Mr X’s property. This is because Mr X has known about this issue since at least 2017 but did not complain to the Ombudsman until 2021. Therefore this is a late complaint.

Hambleton District Council (20 013 172)

Statement Not upheld Other 06-Sep-2021

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to approve a planning application for development on land on the edge of his village. We did not investigate his complaints further because Mr X was not caused a significant injustice or an injustice for which we would recommend a remedy.

Braintree District Council (20 010 048)

Statement Upheld Other 03-Sep-2021

Summary: Mr X complained the Council had failed to decide a prior approval application within planning regulation time limits, so lost the chance to control the siting and appearance of a telecommunications mast. There was fault because the Council did not act within the regulation time limit, and this caused Mr X uncertainty and disappointment. The Council has remedied this by making satisfactory improvements to its planning service.