Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s management of a meanwhile site. The Complaint is late and it would have been reasonable for Mr X to pursue his complaint sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council poorly managed a meanwhile site. He says the Council:
• Did not take sufficient action to address issues he reported on the site;
• Evicted him without returning his possessions; and,
• Handled his complaint poorly.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X rented a pitch from the Council on a meanwhile site in 2022. The meanwhile site is an area of land managed by the Council where people can pay a pitch fee to stay in a vehicle.
7. Mr X reported several issues to the Council including uncontrolled dogs, antisocial behaviour, and a damaged water supply. Mr X says the Council failed to take action which led to him being attacked by an uncontrolled dog and later assaulted by another resident.
8. Due to the incidents Mr X did not feel safe and left the site. Mr X says he did not end his lease and still had possessions on the site. Mr X says the Council evicted him and his possessions were not returned.
9. The matters Mr X raises date back to 2022. Although Mr X contacted us at the time, the Council had not completed its complaints process. We advised Mr X to return to us if he remained unhappy after the Council had responded or if 12 weeks passed without a response. Mr X did not contact us again until October 2025. It would have been reasonable for Mr X to pursue his complaint sooner.
10. We will also not investigate Mr X’s complaint about poor communication and complaint handling. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not looking at the substantive issue.

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Final decision

We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The complaint is late and it would have been reasonable for Mr X to pursue his complaint sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman