Summary: Mr X complains that the Council has not taken planning enforcement action against his neighbour. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council has not taken planning enforcement action against his neighbour.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the complainant's and Council's comments. The complainant has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X says that his neighbour has breached planning permission by cutting down trees, working unsocial hours, and failing to put up bird and bat boxes. He is concerned about some of the housing development around him.
5. The Council’s enforcement officer visited the site and concluded that no enforcement action was required at this point. The Council says that there is no planning obligation to install bird and bat boxes at this stage in the development but that boxes are on order from the developer.
6. The Council says that it was not considered necessary to impose hours of construction as it was a small development. It says that a complaint can be made to the Environmental Health team if there is a noise nuisance.
7. It says that the distances between buildings have been checked and is in compliance with planning permissions. It says that there was no evidence of unacceptable mud or dust to warrant enforcement action.
8. The Council says that it checked the trees and no harm had been made to them.
9. I am satisfied that the Council’s visit to the site meant that it was able to reach a view about Mr X’s concerns. The Council’s view, that no enforcement action was warranted, was reached without administrative fault and so the Ombudsman cannot question the Council’s judgement.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman