South Hams District Council (22 012 847)
Category : Environment and regulation > Trees
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Jan 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the complainant’s application to carry out works to a protected tree. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, has complained about how the Council dealt with her application to carry out works to a protected tree. Mrs X says she has incurred costs because of the Council’s actions, and it should compensate her.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a government minister. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(b))
- The Planning Inspector acts on behalf of the responsible Government minister. The Planning Inspector considers appeals about:
- delay – usually over eight weeks – by an authority in deciding an application for planning permission
- a decision to refuse planning permission
- conditions placed on planning permission
- a planning enforcement notice.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X could have appealed to the Planning Inspector if she was unhappy with the Council’s decision to refuse her application.
- Mrs X has also raised concerns about how the Council dealt with the application. But the Council’s handling of the application was related to the decision which could have been appealed. I consider it would have been reasonable for Mrs X to have used her right to appeal. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate when someone had a right to appeal to the Planning Inspector, even if the appeal would not have addressed all the issues complained about.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she had the right to appeal to the Planning Inspector.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman