Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the Council disposed of a former allotment site and then granted planning permission for development on it. He cannot alter the decision to allow the disposal of the land as this was made by the Secretary of State. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council considered the planning application for the development.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about two issues relating to an allotment site which he uses. He says the Council was wrong to dispose of land next to the allotment site. He also complains about a planning application to build houses on the land. He says, in particular, this will affect access to the allotments.

Back to top

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. It says 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)
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’.
4. 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;
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

5. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint and discussed it with him. I have also seen information about the planning application on the Council’s website. Mr B commented on a draft before I made this decision.

Back to top

What I found

Disposal of the land

7. Because the land had been used as an allotment, the Council required the permission of the (then) Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. This was given in May 2017.
8. I have decided we will not investigate a complaint about this. The complaint was not made to us within 12 months but, even if this was not the case, we cannot alter the Secretary of State’s decision to allow the disposal.

Planning permission

9. The Council received a planning application for housing development on the land. It had to consider this on its planning merits and grant planning permission if there were no valid grounds for refusal.
10. The Council consulted on the application and Mr B sent in his comments, including his views on access to the allotments.
11. A Council officer prepared a report setting out the planning issues. The report specifically refers to access issues for the allotments. The officer’s view was that this would be enhanced.
12. The Council decided in principle to grant planning permission, although this has not yet been finalised.
13. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint as we are unlikely to find evidence of fault in how the Council considered the planning application. In the absence of fault, we cannot criticise its decision to grant permission.

Back to top

Final decision

14. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in paragraphs 8 and 13.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman