Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council accepting an application to cut down trees. This is because an investigation is unlikely to find fault causing significant injustice to Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complaints the Council has granted an application to cut down two ash trees near his home.
2. Mr X has concerns the Council has failed to follow the correct process in deciding the application to cut down the trees.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I have written to Mr X with my draft decision and considered his response.

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What I found

5. In April 2018, a resident applied to fell several trees on their land, including the two ash trees that Mr X has raised concerns about.
6. In June 2018, the Council accepted the application to fell the two ash trees, among other trees. The Council placed a sycamore under a Tree Preservation Order (TPO).
7. Mr X says the Council ignored his objections to the application and failed to follow the correct process when deciding the application. He is unhappy the Council has granted the application for the resident to fell the two trees, and the loss of enjoyment and the visual screen these provided.
8. Under Section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 a person may make a request for works on trees within a conservation area. The Council will then decide if it will give consent to the works within six weeks. There is no requirement on a Council to accept submissions from the public.
9. The Council considered the application made in April 2018 and followed the correct process, providing its decision in June 2018. It is for a Council to decide what trees should be placed under a TPO. The Council determined the sycamore justified a TPO but the other trees did not.
10. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council decided the application. The loss of enjoyment and a visual screen would also not be significant injustice to Mr X to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

11. My decision is the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because an investigation is unlikely to find fault causing a significant personal injustice to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman