Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (19 018 511)
Category : Other Categories > Land
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Mar 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the way the Council maintained the hedge behind his property. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council so an investigation is not warranted.
The complaint
- Mr B is unhappy the Council will not reduce the height of the hedge behind his property. He says the hedge will grow higher and block his visibility to the outside.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
- 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information from Mr B and the Council. I shared a draft version of this decision with Mr B and invited his comments.
What I found
- The Council maintains a hedge behind Mr B’s property. Recently, when Mr B was on holiday, the Council trimmed the hedge from the sides. Mr B says the height of the hedge has not reduced and he wants the Council to trim the hedge down to the brick wall next to it.
- The Council explained to Mr B the pruning was carried out to its satisfaction and further pruning would not be beneficial to the hedge. The Council said it would carry out further maintenance of the hedge at suitable times of the year.
- The Council considered Mr B’s concerns but decided not to take further action and this is a decision it is entitled to make.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of procedural fault by the Council so an investigation is not warranted.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman