Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complainant about planning permission for development on land near the complainants’ home and the sale of that land. It is unlikely he would find evidence of fault by the Council causing the complainants injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainants, who I refer to here as Mr and Mrs B, have complained about issues relating to a parcel of land near their home. In summary, they are concerned about:
• the impact of possible development on the land; and
• the intended sale of the land by the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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’.
5. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault;
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained;
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement; or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

6. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached that is likely to have affected the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I have considered what Mr and Mrs B said in their complaint which included the Council’s response to their concerns. I have also seen information on the Council’s website. Mr and Mrs B commented on a draft before I made this decision.

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What I found

Background

8. The Council, which owns the land in question, first granted itself planning permission for residential development in 2007. This permission expired in 2013. The Council says it has been trying to sell the land since 2008 without success.
9. The land includes an access road which runs by Mr and Mrs B’s home. There is nothing to indicate the Council has ever sought to sell the access road separately from the remainder of the land.
10. A more recent planning application from a developer has been agreed subject to a legal agreement which has not yet been completed. The developer has agreed to buy the land from the Council once planning permission has been granted.

Planning issues

11. The Ombudsman will not now look at any issue to do with the planning permission the Council granted to itself in 2007.
12. With regard to the more recent application, the Council had to consider this on its planning merits and grant planning permission if there were no valid planning grounds for refusal.
13. I have seen nothing to suggest any fault in how the Council has dealt with the more recent planning application. It is clear Mr and Mrs B were aware of the application and commented on it.
14. The Council’s planning committee will consider the application in due course and decide whether to grant planning permission. So, even if there was some evidence of fault, we could not come to any view on whether this has caused Mr and Mrs B injustice.
15. I have decided we will not investigate a complaint about the most recent planning application. We are unlikely to find evidence of fault and could not come to any view on injustice before the application is decided.

Sale of land

16. The Council has provided details of the attempts it has made to sell the land since 2008. Although Mr and Mrs B say they were unaware of this, I have seen nothing to suggest this was because of some fault by the Council.
17. Moreover, the Council has said it has never intended to sell the access road separately. So, while Mr and Mrs B contend they would have bought the access road had the Council given them the opportunity, I do not see this would ever have happened.
18. I have decided we will not investigate a complaint about the sale of the land as we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council causing Mr and Mrs B injustice.

Other issues

19. Mr and Mrs B have expressed concerns about their access being limited and possible damage to their property as a result of any development. These would be private civil matters for the parties concerned and not something in which we could be involved.

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Final decision

20. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint for the reasons set out in paragraphs 15, 18 and 19.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman