Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to agree a lease in January 2022 to allow banger racing as it is unlikely we could achieve any meaningful outcome for the complainant now.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s decision in January 2022 to agree a lease to allow banger racing at a track near to her home. Ms X considers the decision should have been decided by committee and has concerns that the environmental impact of the racing was not properly considered. Ms X also complains that the Council has failed to properly respond to requests for information she has made relating to the decision to agree the lease. Ms X says she is impacted by noise from the banger racing.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

5. Ms X has told me that the Council has recently granted a new lease to allow banger racing for the coming year and that noise recordings have only been carried out at her property once in 2021 and on that day, the wind direction took the noise away from her home.
6. On balance, I do not consider we should investigate the Council’s decision of January 2022. It is unlikely that an investigation by us into that decision would result in any meaningful remedy for the injustice Ms X claims, particularly as noise recording so far has not identified a noise nuisance. It would also not have any impact on any negative effects Ms X might experience from the racing in the coming year or on the potential environmental impact of that.
7. If Ms X has concerns about the Council’s new decision on the lease then I consider the most appropriate way forward is for her to take this up with the Council. Ms X can then complain to us if she remains dissatisfied with the Council’s response and we can consider the matter afresh. If Ms X experiences noise nuisance this year, then similarly, she should ask the Council to investigate.
8. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent authority on upholding information rights in the public interest and it is best placed to deal with the concerns Ms X raises about the Council’s response to her information requests.
9. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

Back to top

Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is unlikely we can achieve any meaningful outcome and the ICO is best placed to deal with how the Council dealt with Ms X’s information requests.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman