Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council storing waste for composting in a park depot. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council using skips on a park site near her home for storing waste and mulch for planting. She says the waste causes smells in warm weather and debris left around the skips has been encouraging vermin onto the site and neighbouring property. She wants the Council to remove the three skips involved and any associated debris.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mrs X says the Council has placed three skips in a depot within a park which is adjacent to her property. She says the skips cause smells and attract vermin and are not emptied for 5 days at a time. She complained to her local councillor who raised the matter with the Council.
6. Storage of waste is controlled under legislation and the Council says it has an exemption from the Environment Agency to enable it to store mulch and waste on the site. The exemption is subject to conditions and the Council says that it has pest control measures in place and there is no other site for the skips within its facility. The exemption details are registered on the Environment Agency’s website.
7. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
8. The Council has an exemption form the relevant agency for storing waste on the site and whilst this may be a source of inconvenience to Mrs X there is no fault which would warrant further investigation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council storing waste for composting in a park depot. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman