Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a planning application. This is because the Council’s planning decision was made too long ago for us to investigate effectively, and it is unlikely we could achieve the outcome the complainant wants.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, has complained the Council did not adequately draft a planning condition when granting permission for a development near her home. Mrs X says this has led to issues on the street where she lives, and residents no longer have sufficient parking or a turning area.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council granted planning permission for a new dwelling on land near Mrs X’s home. The development included an area of land for parking and a turning facility and Mrs X says the developer agreed to hand the land over for the use of residents of the street. The development was completed, and residents used the parking and turning facility for many years.
6. In 2021, the property was sold, and the new owners changed the use of the land and restricted parking. Mrs X says this has made access along the street difficult and created highway safety issues. She also says there is now insufficient parking for residents. Mrs X says the Council did not include sufficient detail regarding the future use of the parking and turning area when drafting the planning condition and the issues she is now experiencing could have been avoided had the condition been clearer.
7. However, it is not for the Council to get involved with land ownership issues or disputes about rights over land. These will be private civil matters between Mrs X and the owners of the property.
8. I understand Mrs X says the problems she is experiencing have been caused as the Council failed to adequately draft the planning condition. But planning permission was granted many years ago. Too much time has passed for the Ombudsman to make sound findings about what happened or to establish whether there was fault by the Council causing injustice to Mrs X.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Council’s planning decision was made too long ago for us to investigate effectively, and it is unlikely we could achieve the outcome Mrs X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman