Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to deal with her concerns about an allotment. This is because the Council has provided a satisfactory response to the matter and it is unlikely we could add to this or achieve anything further for her.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains the Council has failed to take action to deal with concerns she has about the management of an allotment next to her property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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’. 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, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Ms X’s complaint and her correspondence with the Council. I shared my draft decision with Ms X and considered her comments.

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What I found

4. Mrs X lives alongside an allotment. She complains the allotment holders have erected structures close to her boundary, allowed weeds and brambles to grow over and through her fence and make noise early in the morning and late at night. She says previously the Council would stop the allotment holders from erecting structures near her property and enforced a 2’ wide ‘demarcation zone’ between the allotments and her fence. But the allotment is now self-managed and although a council officer oversees issues with its management Ms X says it has not dealt with the issues she raised. She has also experienced issues with the council officer.
5. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The Council has explained the 2’ wide section Ms X refers to is actually part of her land and that she may fence it off and do what she wishes with it. Any damage caused by weeds and brambles on this section of land is Ms X’s responsibility and if she disputes this and believes the Council is liable she may take the matter to court.
6. The Council has confirmed there have been no recent changes to its rules regarding the position of structures and the structures she complains about are authorised and will not be moved. While the Council apparently required allotment holders to move them in the past, this is not evidence of fault in its approach now. The structures do not require planning permission and the Council cannot reasonably ask the allotment holders to move them.
7. There is no restriction to the hours allotment holders may visit and spend at the allotment and although Ms X has only recently experienced issues with this there is no recent change which has resulted in this. Ms X is concerned about the appearance of the allotment as some plots are not properly maintained and rubbish is left on-site but this is not a significant enough injustice to warrant our further involvement and it is unlikely we could add to the Council’s responses to Ms X’s complaints or that we could achieve any worthwhile outcome for her.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we could add to the Council’s responses to Ms X’s complaint or achieve anything worthwhile for her by investigating her complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman