Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s delay in dealing with an obstruction to a watercourse which affected his property. We will not investigate the complaint because the obstruction has now been removed and the Council will be contacting the landowner responsible about it.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s delayed response to his report of an obstruction to a watercourse by a neighbouring landowner which threatened to flood his property. He asked that the Council write a letter to the landowner causing the obstruction to inform him that what he is doing is illegal.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr X and the Council. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what he said.

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What I found

4. In 2020 Mr X contacted the Council to report the obstruction of a watercourse caused by a neighbouring landowner which was threatening to flood Mr X’s property and business.
5. Mr X says despite assurances from the relevant department that the landowner would be contacted and told to remove the obstruction, nothing happened for a number of months.
6. The Council says that when the issue first came to its attention, resources and a series of poor weather events at the time placed a greater demand on its services so it had to prioritise investigating flooding matters and watercourses. It says it encouraged Mr X to speak to his neighbour to get the problem addressed.
7. In response to my request for an update, the Council has advised that it contacted Mr X at the beginning of June 2021 to establish the current position and that he had said the obstruction had been removed. Mr X says he told the Council the obstruction would be unlikely to be there in the middle of a dry spell but that the obstruction, a steel plate, is kept nearby the watercourse for future use, depending on flows in the watercourse.
8. The Council says that formal consent is required for such an obstruction and so it will be writing to the landowner to advise that if he wishes to reinstall the steel plate at any point, he must apply for consent from the Council before doing so. It says it will also advise the neighbour of the consequences of reinstalling it without the required consent.

Assessment

9. I understand Mr X has been concerned about the time taken to resolve this matter. However, the obstruction is no longer in place and the Council has now confirmed it will be writing to the neighbour to advise on the requirement for consent and the consequences of using the obstruction again without that consent.
10. In responding to my draft decision, Mr X says while he does not accept Council excuses about work demands and its lack of response, if it writes to the landowner this is what he requires as he can use it should he need to take civil action against the neighbour.
11. As the letter to the neighbour is the outcome Mr X has sought, although it has been delayed, it is due to be sent by the Council and so an investigation by the Ombudsman will not achieve any useful outcome.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the obstruction has now been removed and the Council will be contacting the landowner responsible about it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman