Rother District Council (19 011 918)
Category : Planning > Enforcement
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 Dec 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s grant of planning permission to a neighbour who plans to build on her partner’s land without authorisation. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and there is a private remedy.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about the Council’s grant of planning permission to a neighbour who plans to build on her partner’s land without authorisation.
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 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the complainant's and Council's comments. The complainant has commented on the draft decision.
What I found
- Ms X says that a neighbour has obtained planning permission for development which encroaches on land owned by her partner. As a result, her partner has had to instruct solicitors.
- Planning permission does not provide a right for the applicant to build on land not owned by them. This is a private matter between the developer and the owner of the land. It is not therefore a matter for the Council.
- The Council sought a further planning application from the developer regarding a drainage issue. Ms X will have a right to object to such a planning application.
- I am not persuaded therefore that there is evidence that the Council has acted with fault.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman