Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of concerns about trees. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault and the injustice is not significant enough to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about how the Council handled her concerns about trees overhanging her land. She says the trees are toxic to the livestock she keeps on the land and would like the Council to fell the trees.
2. Mrs X also complains about how the Council handled her complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. 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 injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

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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. Mrs X says the trees that overhang the boundary of her land are toxic to the horses she keeps. She says she has felled four of the trees and would like the Council to fell the others.
7. The Council initially thought the trees were on Mrs X’s land and offered advice on who she should contact if she needed the adjacent road closing while the trees were felled. However, following an inspection, the Council determined the trees were on Council land.
8. The Council advised Mrs X it would not fell the trees, a decision the Council is entitled to make, and we therefore cannot criticise it.
9. During the complaints process, the Council advised Mrs X, under common law, she can prune branches that overhang her land. The Council also said Mrs X could erect a fence to prevent her horses from grazing near the trees. There is not enough evidence the Council is at fault to warrant an investigation.
10. We will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. As a publicly funded body we must be careful how we use our resources. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.
11. Mrs X complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint. It is not a good use of our resources to investigate how a Council has handled a complaint if the substantive matter does not fall to be investigated. That is the case here.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault and the injustice is not significant enough to warrant us investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman