Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s wire fence between her garden and its land and its decision not to install a solid wood fence, despite doing so at other nearby properties. There is not enough evidence of Council fault to warrant us investigating. There is insufficient significant injustice to Mrs X and her family stemming from action or inaction of the Council to justify us investigating. We also cannot achieve the key outcome she seeks from her complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X owns a property with a back garden bordering Council land. She complains the Council:
1. has failed to properly deal with an unsafe wire fence between the garden and its land;
2. installed an unacceptable fence to mark the boundary;
3. has refused to install a solid wood fence, despite doing so at other properties bordering the land.
2. Mrs X says the wire fence is unstable, has sharp edges and gaps, and allows rats to enter her garden. She considers the Council’s actions have been unfair and inconsistent, and officers have ignored their duty of care to her family. Mrs X says the fence and rat problem have caused ongoing stress and distress, health worries and a safety hazard. She says two of her children have experienced trauma and the fence makes them anxious and scared to play outside.
3. Mrs X wants the Council to:
• replace the wire fence with a secure and solid fence, similar to the one installed behind a neighbouring garden;
• review its handling of the matter to ensure fairness and consistency in how it makes decisions about fences;
• acknowledge the distress the situation has caused her family, particularly her children.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating; or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement; or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information from Mrs X and the Council, relevant online maps and images, and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. We are not an appeal body. We may only criticise a council’s decision where there is evidence of fault in the decision-making process and but for that fault a different decision would have been made. So we consider the processes they have followed to make their decisions. We cannot replace a decision with our own or someone else’s opinion if the decision was reached after following proper process.
8. In response to Mrs X’s complaint, the Council visited and assessed the condition of the fence. Officers recognised a wood panel fence would look better. But they found the existing fence in generally good condition. Officers noted there were some sharp parts on the fence. They agreed to do work to fix any broken fence links and remove old wire and sharp edges. Officers explained the Council has a duty to install a fence to mark its boundary, the same as any neighbouring landowner. But they advised Mrs X that it does not have further duties regarding the fence’s material, design, or the privacy and screening it provides. Officers explained a fence could not prevent wildlife going on to others’ property. They gave Mrs X details of its pest control service regarding any rat issues. Officers explained a wooden board fence had been used on a neighbouring boundary because there had been evidence of trespass from its land and a dangerous animal at the premises, specific circumstances which did not apply to her property. They advised that if Mrs X does not like the look or function of the Council’s fence, she may install one of her own choosing on her own land.
9. The Council inspected the fence, considered its duties, and took account of Mrs X’s concerns about the fence’s impacts on her and her family. Officers took the view their responsibility to provide a boundary fence was met by the existing fence and there were no specific grounds for the Council to install a different one. They considered the fence met their duties as a neighbouring landowner. That was a decision the Council was entitled to make. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process here to warrant us investigating. We recognise Mrs X disagrees with the Council’s decision. But it is not fault for a council to properly make a decision with which someone disagrees.
10. Even if there had been Council fault here, we would not investigate. Mrs X bought her property in 2025 with the same Council fence in place. It was for Mrs X to be satisfied the property she bought was suitable for her and family’s needs, including the garden’s boundary, and factor into her budget the cost of any alterations she would need or want to make. The impacts on her and her family of the fence which she reports stem primarily from her decision to move to this property with the existing fence, not from an action or inaction of the Council. There is insufficient significant injustice to Mrs X and her family caused by the Council here to justify us investigating.
11. We note the key outcome Mrs X wants from her complaint is for the Council to replace the current fence with a solid wood panel one. We cannot order councils to install different fences at their land boundaries. That we cannot achieve this outcome for Mrs X is a further reason why we will not investigate.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because:
• there is not enough evidence of Council fault to warrant us investigating; and
• there is insufficient significant injustice to Mrs X and her family stemming from an action or inaction of the Council to justify us investigating; and
• we cannot achieve the key outcome she wants from her complaint.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman